Israeli forces go inside Nairobi mall, 2 Indians among 59 killed

Israeli forces have joined Kenyan efforts to end a deadly siege by Somali militants at a Nairobi shopping mall, a security source said.

Two Indians were among at least 59 people killed and nearly 200 injured as Somali Islamist militants, holding unspecified number of hostages at an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, continued fierce fight with Kenyan soldiers for the second consecutive day on Sunday.

Four Indians, including two women and a girl, were injured in the attack.

‘The Israelis have just entered and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured,’ the source told AFP on condition that he is not named.

Heavy gunfire could be heard as Kenyan security officials said they were attempting to kill or capture the remaining attackers and end the 24-hour-long bloodbath at the Westgate mall. Among the dead was renowned Ghanaian poet and statesmen Kofi Awoonor. Somalia’s al-Qaida-inspired al-Shabaab rebels said the carnage at the part Israeli-owned complex was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists.

Meanwhile, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday said that a nephew and his fiancee were among those killed. ‘I feel the pain of every life we have lost, and share your grief at our nation’s loss,’ Kenyatta said, calling his killed relatives ‘young, lovely people I personally knew and loved’.