BREAKING NEWS: NAIROBI WESTGATE MALL FREQUENTED BY SOMALIS ATTACKED

 Gunmen in Nairobi have opened fire inside one of the Kenyan city's smartest shopping centres frequented by Somalis in an apparent terror attack, with reports of at least 22 killed and dozens wounded.

The shooting began at the Westgate Shopping Mall at around lunchtime, and it was not immediately clear who was involved. The gunmen were thought to have taken seven people hostage, throwing grenades as they launched their attack. The Mall is frequented by Somalis who are rich and stay far from Eastleigh, Another Somali enclave in Nairobi.

 

Many Somalis were thought to be at the Mall like any other Saturday either shopping and having coffee at the mall.

"It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously," said Mutea Iringo, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Interior.

A witness said that gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted. Others contradicting stories said, the gunmen mainly wanted to rob the Barclays Bank situated in the Mall. No one knows the whole scenario. 

"I would say so far we have at least 15 dead. The casualties are many, and that's only what we have on the outside," Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Guled told the Reuters news agency.

Abbas Guled himseld is a Kenyan Somali and co-ordinating the rescue mission.

Elijah Kamau told AP that attackers with AK-47s and grenades made the statement about Muslims as they began their attack.

We are still following the whole story as many Somalis were thought to be there as many Saturdays shopping and having coffee at the mall.