Heavy and sustained gunfire has been heard from the Nairobi mall where Somali group Al-Shabab are holed up, holding an unknown number of civilians hostage.
Three al-Shabab fighters have been killed and ten soldiers wounded in the military operation to end the standoff and nearly all hostages have been freed, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for the Interior Ole Lenku said on Monday.
"We don't want to give you a definitive position on when we think the process will come to an end, but we are doing anything reasonably possible, cautiously though, to bring this process to an end," Lenku told a news conference.
Black smoke was seen rising over the mall complex, two days after it was stormed by al-Shabab fighters.
Lenku said a fire inside the mall was the work of the fighters, but that it would soon be extinguished.
He said that Kenyan forces were in control of all floors of the mall, and that "the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores [...] there is no room for escape".
Red Cross officials said the number of people killed so far in the siege was 62, seven lower than previously reported, due to "double counted bodies".
Television images on Monday showed troops in camouflage running to new positions, while an armoured personal carrier was also seen shifting position
"They've got a huge job to secure the premises," Robert Hotsfall, a former officer in the British special forces regiment, the SAS, told Al Jazeera, adding that the operation would likely take another 24 hours.
Source: Aljazeera
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