Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku and the country's defense forces said that three male Islamic terrorists were killed, as all escape routes were sealed off from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Fox News reported. Three hostages were also freed as part of a new rescue operation on Monday as the standoff entered its third day, BBC News also reported. Troops remain steadfast on clearing the building.
The official death toll stands at 62 with more than 170 injuries after al-Shabaab terrorists stormed the mall on Saturday afternoon.
BBC journalist Mike Woolridge said that an earlier round of gunfire followed by explosions appeared to change the momentum of the operation, news reports said. CBS News reported that Lenko said that the smoke billowing from the mall was due to terrorists burning mattresses inside the mall.
"We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers," David Kimaiyo, the inspector general of Kenyan police, said,
Tweets in the past 12 hours from the inspector general highlighted the changing situation on the ground. One tweet read, "Thumbs up to our multi-agency team, we have just managed to rescue some hostages. We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers." Another read, "We have managed to rescue more hostages overnight and very few are remaining. We are also closing in on the attackers."
Kenyan security forces are reportedly aided by Western and Israeli military experts. An Israeli defense official indicated that there were no Israeli forces participating in the raid, but said it may be possible Israeli advisers were providing assistance, news reports said.
Kenyans and foreigners from all over the world have been killed since Saturday, news reports said. Some nationalities include "British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman," CBS News reported.
Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the terrorist attack calling it "an enormous offense against everybody's sense of right and wrong," calling al-Shabaab as "ruthless and completely reckless terrorists"
The United Nations Security Council also condemned the attacks and "expressed their solidarity with the people and Government of Kenya" in a prepared statement.
The terrorist group al-Shabab is "one of the only Al Qaeda affiliates which actually has actively recruited here in the United States," House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Peter King said.
