NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Hostages being held by al-Qaida-linked terrorists in a Nairobi mall have not been released despite an earlier statement from the military that "most" had been rescued, a person connected to the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.

Military helicopters circled over the mall at daybreak, when about five minutes of sustained gunfire broke out inside the Westgate mall, a clear indication that at least one of the estimated 10 to 15 gunmen who attacked the mall when it was filled with shoppers Saturday was still on the loose. More gunfire rang out later, much as it did throughout the day on Sunday. A military ambulance then sped away from the scene.

Late on Sunday a military spokesman said that "most" of the hostages had been released. But a person with knowledge of the rescue operation told AP that no hostages had been released or rescued overnight. The person insisted on anonymity in order to talk about the rescue response.

Another indication no hostages had been freed: None appeared at the Oshwal Centre, a squat concrete structure that houses a Hindu temple just next to the mall that the Red Cross is using as a triage center. Medical workers attended to at least two wounded Kenyan soldiers there on Monday.

From Somalia, spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage for al-Shabab — the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack — said in an audio file posted on a website that the hostage takers had been ordered to "take punitive action against the hostages" if force was used to try to rescue them.

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Kenya security personnel take cover outside the Westgate Mall after shooting started inside the mall …

Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily on Sunday to the helicopters hovering over the mall, and warned on Twitter that the Kenyan military action was endangering hostages.

A large military assault began on the mall shortly before sundown on Sunday, with one helicopter skimming very close to the roof of the shopping complex as a loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley. Officials said the siege would soon end and said "most" hostages had been rescued and that officials controlled "most" of the mall.

But officials never said how many hostages had been rescued, and Kenya's military spokesman on Monday was still not able to provide clear details.

"We are yet to get confirmation from what's happening in the building," Col. Cyrus Oguna told AP.

Late on Sunday, Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter that "this will end tonight. Our forces will prevail."

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Kenya Securiy personnel take cover outside the Westgate Mall after firing started inside the mall, M …

Oguna had said that many of the rescued hostages — whom he said were mostly adults — were suffering from dehydration.

As the crisis neared the 48-hour mark, video taken by someone inside the mall's main department store when the assault began emerged. The video showed frightened and unsure shoppers crouching as long and loud volleys of gunfire could be heard.

The assault by Kenyan forces came about 30 hours after al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians.

Kenyan authorities said they would do their utmost to save hostages' lives, but no officials could say precisely how many people were being held captive. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement, citing police, that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive.

Kenya's Red Cross said the death toll rose to 68 after nine bodies were recovered Sunday. More than 175 people were injured, including many children, Kenyan officials said.

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Kenya security personnel arrive in a land rover outside the Westgate Mall after firing started insid …

Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, said the attack, targeting non-Muslims, was in retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

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Associated Press reporters Rodney Muhumuza in Nairobi, Kenya and Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia contributed to this report.

A source tells the AP that no hostages were freed overnight despite a military statement that "most" had been rescued.
At least 68 dead

4 blasts at Kenya mall as 2 terrorists killed

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Four thunderous explosions rattled Nairobi's upscale mall Monday, part of a battle between Kenyan troops and al-Qaida-linked terrorists. Top Kenyan officials said two hostage takers, part of "a multinational collection from all over the world," had been killed.

Kenya's interior minister said the evacuation of hostages "has gone very, very well" and that Kenyan officials are "very certain" that there are few if any hostages left in the building.

Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku also revised the death toll to 62. Kenyan officials earlier said 59 people have died since the siege on Westgate Mall began on Saturday, while the Red Cross had put the toll at 68, then in a tweet lowered it to 62, saying some bodies had been counted twice.

Dark plumes of smoke rose from the mall for more than an hour after four large explosions rocked the upscale Westlands neighborhood. A person with knowledge of the rescue operation told The Associated Press that the smoke was rising up and out of a large skylight inside the mall's main department and grocery store, Nakumatt, where goods like mattresses may have been lit on fire.

Kenya Chief of Defense forces Gen. Julius Karangi said fighters from an array of nations participated in the attack claimed by al-Shabab, a Somali group allied with al-Qaida.

"We have an idea who these people are and they are clearly a multinational collection from all over the world," he said.

Karangi said Kenyan forces were in charge of all floors inside the mall, though terrorists could still be hiding inside. Earlier witness reports had indicated that a woman was among the estimated 10 to 15 attackers. Lenku said that instead some male attackers had dressed up like women.

The four explosions were followed by volleys of gunfire, then a thick, dark column of smoke that burned for roughly 90 minutes. Military and police helicopters and one plane circled over the Nairobi mall, giving the upscale neighborhood the feel of a war zone.

On Sunday Kenyan officials announced that "most" hostages had been rescued. But no numbers were given. Kenyan officials have never said how many hostages they thought the attackers had, but have said preserving the hostages' lives is a top priority, greatly complicating the final fight against the attackers.

Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman. The UK Foreign Office said Monday it has confirmed the deaths of four British nationals.

From neighboring Somalia, spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage for al-Shabab — the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack — said in an audio file posted on a website that the hostage takers had been ordered to "take punitive action against the hostages" if force was used to try to rescue them.

At the Oshwal Centre next to the mall, the Red Cross was using a squat concrete structure that houses a Hindu temple as a triage center. Medical workers attended to at least two wounded Kenyan soldiers there on Monday.

Al-Shabab said on a Twitter feed, an account that unlike some others appears to be genuine, that the attackers had lots of ammunition. The feed said that Kenya's government would be responsible for any loss of hostages' lives.

A large military assault began on the mall shortly before sundown on Sunday, with one helicopter skimming very close to the roof of the shopping complex as a loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley. Officials said the siege would soon end and said "most" hostages had been rescued and that officials controlled "most" of the mall. But on Monday the standoff remained.

As the crisis surpassed the 48-hour mark, video taken by someone inside the mall's main department store when the assault began emerged. The video showed frightened and unsure shoppers crouching as long and loud volleys of gunfire could be heard.

The al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall on Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians.

Kenyan authorities said they would do their utmost to save hostages' lives, but no officials could say precisely how many people were being held captive. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement, citing police, that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive.

Al-Shabab said the attack, targeting non-Muslims, was in retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

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Associated Press reporters Rodney Muhumuza, Ben Curtis and Jacob Kushner in Nairobi, Kenya and Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia contributed to this report.

Explosions rock Kenya mall amid standoff

Four blasts and gunfire were heard at the Westgate mall as officials say they're closing in on the hostage-takers.
Minister: 2 terrorists killed

Somali leader says threat of al-Shabab is global

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Islamic extremist group claiming responsibility for the weekend terrorist attack at a Kenyan mall presents a threat not just to the region or Africa but to the world at large, the president of Somalia said Monday on a trip to Ohio.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said reports that some of the attackers may have been Somalis who lived in the United States illustrate the global nature of al-Shabab.

"Today, there are clear evidences that Shabab is not a threat to Somalia and Somali people only," Mohamud said in a speech at Ohio State University. "They are a threat to the continent of Africa, and the world at large."

Kenyan authorities say dozens of people have died in the attack. Mohamud said he has spoken with the president of Kenya and plans to visit the country.

Mohamud likened the attacks to an al-Shabab assault on Somalia's main court complex in April that killed dozens, and a 2010 al-Shabab attack in Uganda's capital that killed about 76 people.

Mohamud said his government is committed to uprooting al-Shabab. He said maintaining security is his top priority as Somalia rebuilds after decades of civil war and terrorist threats. But a relapse is a possibility, he warned.

In his speech, he called on people from Somalia who are living in Ohio to consider coming home to help rebuilding efforts. Central Ohio has the second-largest number of Somalis in the U.S. after the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area. The president said his current government has Somalis from the U.S., Australia, Britain, Canada, Sweden and elsewhere. Many more have returned to set up businesses.

"The government will prepare the ground for you to come," Mohamud said.

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A Kenyan officer (R) and other people are seen running for cover at the Oshwal Centre adjacent to th …

The president pledged to continue the policy of creating a unified country bringing together all regions. He also promised free elections in 2016. The key to success, he said, is a country stable in all ways.

"Stable in terms of security, stable in terms of politics and stable in terms of economy," Mohamud said.

Mohamud started his U.S. visit in Washington, then planned to travel Monday to New York for a speech at the United Nations.

Secretary of State John Kerry praised Mohamud's efforts building a government Friday.

"We encourage you to continue the work of reaching out, of reconciliation and rebuilding the democracy, and I know he's committed to that," Kerry said.

Outside Monday's university event and at another speech Sunday night, a few dozen Somali protesters challenged Mohamud, saying he was not committed to the constitution or creating a unified country, and he was siphoning too much international aid to the capital of Mogadishu.

"We would like him to unify the country, not separate the country," said Liban Abdi, who runs a health care business in Columbus and has lived in the city for 14 years.

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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.

Somali president calls terror group global threat

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says al-Shabab is a danger to the continent of Africa and the world at large.
To visit Kenya after mall attack

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court on Monday ordered the Muslim Brotherhood to be banned and its assets confiscated in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the military-backed government against supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

The ruling opens the door for a wider crackdown on the vast network of the Brotherhood, which includes social organizations that have been key for building the group's grassroots support and helping its election victories. The verdict banned the group itself — including the official association it registered earlier this year — as well as "any institution branching out of it or ... receiving financial support from it," according to the court ruling, made public on Egypt's state official news agency MENA.

The judge at the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters also ordered the "confiscation of all the group's money, assets, and buildings" and said that an independent committee should be formed by the Cabinet to manage the money until final court orders are issued. The verdict can be appealed.

The Brotherhood was outlawed for most of its 85 years in existence. After the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, it emerged to work openly, opening a formal headquarters and forming a political party for the first time, and rose to power in a string of post-Mubarak elections. Still, its legal status remained hazy. In March, it registered as a non-governmental organization, but its entire network was not brought under the association's aegis.

"This is totalitarian decision," a leading Brotherhood member, Ibrahim Moneir, said in an interview with Qatari-based Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr TV. "You are losers, and it (the Brotherhood) will remain with God's help, not by the orders by the judiciary of el-Sissi," he added, referring to military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Morsi on July 3.

The military removed Morsi after mass protests by millions demanding he step down, accusing him of power abuse and allowing the Brotherhood and other Islamists to monopolize rule.

Since Morsi's ouster, security forces have arrested some 2,000 of the group's members, including many of its senior figures and a large swath of its middle ranks. Morsi, held in secret military detention, faces trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters during his year in office. The Brotherhood's top leader and his deputies are also on trial, and figures are expected to be referred to courts soon, and already assets of many senior figures' assets have been ordered frozen. Officials and sympathetic media accuse the group of fomenting a wave of violence in retaliation for the coup.

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FILE - In this April 30, 2011 file photo, Egyptian Muslim brotherhood Shura council members gather t …

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies have continued protests demanding Morsi's reinstatement — but the rallies have grown weaker under the heavy crackdown. The group insists its protests are non-violent. However, dozens of churches and police stations came under attack by suspected supporters of Morsi and armed Morsi supporters exchanged gunfire and clashed with security forces in two Islamists' strongholds.

"This time, the group will return to darkness but much weaker than before after losing popular support," said Abdullah el-Moghazi, a former lawmaker who sat on a consultative body that advised the military generals who ruled Egypt for more than a year after Mubarak's fall and before Morsi's election.

He said that after Mubarak's ouster, the Brotherhood was not formally unbanned, but that the military leaders "turned a blind eye" allowing it to create a political party without formalizing its legal status.

Essam el-Islambouli, a legal expert, said the ruling would likely mean the disbanding of the Brotherhood's political party, Freedom and Justice, banning its official mouthpiece though the verdict did not specifically mention the party. Already the group's television network Misr 25 has been closed the day Morsi was ousted along with ultraconservative newtworks.

Perhaps most importantly, the ruling — if upheld in later stages — would give authorities a legal basis for moving against the Brotherhood's network of businesses, school, hospitals and charities that have been the foundation of its political power. That network provided it with financing and recruiting and built popular grassroots support. Built while the group was underground, the links throughout the network are often unclear, with individual Brotherhood members holding ownership.

Explaining its verdict, the court issued a broad denunciation of the group. It said that since its founding, the Brotherhood group used Islam as "a cover to activities that violate Islam and its rulings. It violated the rights of citizens." It said that while Morsi was in power, "citizens lost their basic rights for social justice and security" and that under it "Egyptians found only repression and arrogance."

The ruling came in a suit raised by lawyers from the leftist party Tagammu party, accusing the Brotherhood of being a "terrorist" and "exploiting religion in political slogans." The court did not address the terrorism accusation, beyond calling on al-Azhar, the Sunni world's premier religious authority, to confront "extremist thought that supports terrorism."

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FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013 file photo, lawyers for Muslim Brotherhood leaders, who were ar …

Several other courts are looking into similar suits. Egypt's Administrative Court is looking into legality of the group's registered non-governmental organization. A non-binding panel of judges recommended the NGO be dissolved and that the Brotherhood headquarters be closed on the grounds that it is operating outside law. The court is holding its next session on Nov. 12.

In the past, all orders to disband the group have been issued by executive authorities. In 1948, it was outlawed under the monarchy, then once again in 1954 by President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who imprisoned and executed several of its top leaders.

Still, the group was able to build up its organization, working in semi-shadow. Under Mubarak, the group won nearly 20 percent of parliament seats in mid. 2000s.

"The group exists either with state ban or without," said former Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki, who served under Morsi. "It is like Israel for some Arab countries. It exists though some Arabs don't recognize it. Does this affect Israel? The answer is no."

He said that successive regimes have tried uprooting the group, "but none worked."

Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has warned against driving the Brotherhood completely underground, saying monitoring of political parties is a more reasonable alternative.

Ahmed Darrag, leader of liberal al-Dustour party, said the group's network was already largely underground. He argued that court rulings are not the way to confront the group.

"You can only confront ideas by ideas," he said.

Court bans Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt orders the confiscation of the militant organization's assets in a dramatic escalation of the government's crackdown. 'Totalitarian decision'

• by Beth Buczynski
• September 20, 2013