Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption LIVE: Kenyan president briefing on attack 
 
 Kenyan forces are securing the Nairobi shopping centre attacked by suspected al-Shabab militants, as the stand-off enters its fourth day. 
 
 A senior police source said early on Tuesday the operation was "over", however journalists at the scene have reported sporadic gunfire at the mall. 
 
 There has been no official confirmation the siege is over. Kenya's president is expected to make a statement shortly. 
 
 At least 65 people have been killed, including three soldiers. 
 
 The Kenyan Red Cross says 51 people are still missing, and the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse says mortuaries in the capital are expecting to receive more bodies. 
 
 Al-Shabab militia Name means "The Youth" in Arabic 
 
 Controls large areas of Somalia 
 
 Formed as a radical offshoot of the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006 
 
 Include foreign jihadists 
 
 Has launched cross-border raids into Kenya, Uganda 
 
 Estimated to have 7,000 to 9,000 fighters 
 
 Announced merger with al-Qaeda in 2012 Q&A: Who are Somalia's al-Shabab? 
 
 There are reports that part of the roof at the Westgate shopping centre has collapsed, following a fierce blaze on Monday. 
 
 The Somali Islamist al-Shabab movement said it had carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia. 
 
 Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has said that those behind the attacks "must be held accountable." 
 
 Meanwhile, Kenya's foreign minister said "two or three" Americans and a British woman were among the attackers. 
 
 In an interview with the US TV programme PBS Newshour, Amina Mohamed said the Americans were 18 or 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin, and lived "in Minnesota and one other place". 
 
 She said the Briton was a woman who had "done this many times before". 
 
 Ms Mohamed appeared to contradict earlier comments from Kenya's interior minister, who suggested that all the attackers were men - though some may have been dressed as women. 
 
 Ms Mohamed's remarks have fuelled media speculation about the possible involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of the men who carried out attacks on London's transport system on 7 July 2005. 
 
 Why are they doing this to such innocent people - those attackers are not only enemies to non-Muslims but to humanity Abdirizak Nur Ibrahim, Kenyan Somali Fear of reprisals 
 
 British officials said they would not be drawn on the identity of the attackers while investigations continued. 
 
 Mosque leaders in Minnesota have condemned the violence, saying the attacks had nothing to do with Islam. 
 
 Unanswered questions 
 
 The Kenyan security forces are continuing to comb the shopping centre to flush out the last of the militants. 
 
 The interior ministry said security officials were in "mop-up operations" and that "we're very near the end", while the police said they were defusing explosives planted in the area. 
 
 The BBC understands from official sources that six of the attackers have been killed - three on Monday and three since midnight. 
 
 The government said there were 10 to 15 militants involved in Saturday's attack, and it is not yet clear how the rest are accounted for. 
 
 Al-Shabab has made counter-claims on social media that it is still in contact with fighters in the shopping mall, and they still have hostages. 
 
 The government has said it has no indication that there are any captives. 
 
 Officials said earlier that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the attack. 
 
 Image caption Al-Shabab say this picture, which circulated on social media on Monday, shows their fighters in the shopping centre 
 
 'Three heroes' 
 
 Militants stormed the Westgate centre on Saturday, throwing grenades and firing on shoppers and staff. 
 
 At least 18 foreigners are among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China. 
 
 The interior ministry said on Tuesday that three soldiers had succumbed to their injuries, and eight were still being treated. "We've lost three heroes," the ministry said on its Twitter account. 
 
 Nearly 200 people were wounded. 
 
 President Barack Obama called the attack a "terrible outrage" and said the US was providing all the co-operation it could to Kenya. 
 
 Thousands of Kenyans have been responding to appeals for blood donations. 
 
 Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia. 
 
 There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces. 
 
 Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia. 
 
 Despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside. 
 
 UN special representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay called on Tuesday for a fresh surge in African troops to Somalia to counter an estimated 5,000 al-Shabab fighters, Reuters news agency reported. ||||| NAIROBI As Kenya began three days of mourning on Wednesday for at least 67 people killed in the siege of a Nairobi mall, it was unclear how many more hostages may have died with the Somali Islamist attackers buried in the rubble. 
 
 Declaring final victory over the al Qaeda-linked gunmen from al Shabaab who stormed the Westgate shopping center on Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that three floors in a part of the mall had collapsed near the end of the operation, leaving an unknown number of bodies under steel and concrete. 
 
 It was not clear what caused the structure to come down. 
 
 Five militants had been shot dead, Kenyatta said, and six security personnel died in the four days of fighting. 
 
 Sixty-one civilians had so far been confirmed dead, Kenyatta added. Kenyan officials declined to say how many of 63 people whom the Red Cross had earlier classed as unaccounted for may also have died in a showdown with guerrillas, who had threatened to kill their hostages and go down fighting. 
 
 Eleven people suspected of involvement with the well-planned and executed assault were in custody, the Kenyan president added. But he did not say how many, if any, were gunmen taken alive and how many may have been people arrested elsewhere. 
 
 It was also unclear whether intelligence reports of American or British gunmen would be confirmed. Al Shabaab denied that any women took part, after British sources said the fugitive widow of one of the 2005 London suicide bombers might have some role. 
 
 The shattered mall, an imposing, Israeli-built symbol of a new prosperity for some in Africa while many remain mired in poverty, lay largely silent overnight, after days of gunfire, explosions and bloodshed. 
 
 "The operation is now over," Kenyatta told Kenyans in a televised address. "We have ashamed and defeated our attackers." 
 
 He announced three days of national mourning. 
 
 BODIES IN RUBBLE 
 
 Police said the attackers, who devastated restaurants and shops at a busy Saturday lunchtime, spraying bullets and grenades at Kenyans and foreigners, were now either dead or in custody. 
 
 "Now it is for the forensic and criminal experts," said a police spokesman, Masoud Mwinyi. 
 
 Some of the 63 people reported to the Red Cross as still missing may simply not have been at the mall, or may have later made it home without the agency being made aware. But some, at least, appear to have been held hostage. 
 
 "There are several bodies trapped in the rubble, including the terrorists," Kenyatta said. At the weekend, he had said there were between 10 and 15 militants holed up in the mall. 
 
 Several foreigners of many nationalities have already been named among the dead. The mall was a favorite with expatriates. 
 
 It is unclear how many foreigners may still be missing. 
 
 Survivors of the assault told tales of horror and narrow escapes. Some made it out after hours, even days, of hiding in terror. The uncle of one British four-year-old told the Sun newspaper his nephew had told a militant "You're a very bad man", as the gunman let some children and their mother go. 
 
 Officials said the raiders had set a major fire on Monday in a supermarket. On Tuesday, a thin trail of smoke drifted into a soggy sky as darkness fell, the result, rescue volunteers said, of soldiers detonating locked doors in a search for militants. 
 
 Police let some people retrieve cars they left behind when shoppers fled in panic. Journalists and others were kept well away behind a security cordon. 
 
 FOREIGN FIGHTERS 
 
 Kenyatta said he could not confirm intelligence reports of British and American militants, adding that forensic tests were being carried out to establish their nationalities. The government denied speculation that women were among the guerrillas, but said some had been dressed as women. That may have been a ploy to smuggle more weapons past mall guards. 
 
 It is unusual, if not unknown, for Islamist militants to use female fighters: "We have an adequate number of young men who are fully committed & we do not employ our sisters in such military operations #Westgate," al Shabaab said on Twitter. 
 
 It also dismissed comments by a Kenyan minister that two or three of the militants were young Somali or Arab Americans. 
 
 A British security source said it was possible that Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of Germaine Lindsay one of the London suicide bombers of July 7 2005, was involved in the Nairobi siege in some way. "It is a possibility. But nothing definitive or conclusive yet," the source said. 
 
 Lewthwaite is wanted in connection with an alleged plot to attack expensive hotels and restaurants in Kenya. 
 
 Making no mention of gunmen still in the mall, al Shabaab also drew a link to the most recent Islamist attack in London, when a soldier was stabbed to death on a busy street in May in the suburb of Woolwich. Michael Adebolajo and a fellow British Muslim convert of Nigerian descent face trial for murder. 
 
 "It's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth...' Remember Mujahid Adebolajo? This is what he meant. His was #Woolwich, #Westgate ours!" read another al Shabaab Twitter post. 
 
 "These cowards will meet justice as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are," said Kenyatta. 
 
 KENYATTA 
 
 He thanked other leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, for their support and used his address to praise the response of the Kenyan people and call for national unity, six months after his election was marked by ethnic tensions. 
 
 "Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed," he said. 
 
 Many Kenyans agree that the bloodshed has helped foster a greater sense of national unity. 
 
 "We are all talking about it. The one good thing is that the whole of Kenya has become one, except for al Shabaab," said Vipool Shah, who helped pull bodies out of the mall. 
 
 Kenyatta's focus on Kenya's troubles, and of his role in a global campaign against terrorism, was a reminder that he faces trial at The Hague in a few weeks time for crimes against humanity over violence that followed a 2007 election. The International Criminal Court adjourned the trial of his vice president this week because of the Westgate attack. 
 
 Kenyatta and his government have urged the ICC to drop the case and warm words for the Kenyan leadership from Western allies during the siege may have boosted their hopes that the court might be pressed to shelve proceedings in the interests of shoring up an important partner in the fight against al Qaeda. 
 
 The Nairobi attack came at a time when several violent Islamist groups from Mali to Algeria and Nigeria to Kenya have tapped into local grievances. But all have espoused an anti-Western, anti-Christian creed and are striking at state authority and international interests. 
 
 SHABAAB RESURGENT? 
 
 Regional intelligence experts believe the Nairobi raiders were members of a crack unit loyal to leader Ahmed Godane, who has been seeking to rebrand al Shabaab as a significant international jihadist group. 
 
 Al Shabaab had threatened revenge since Kenyan troops joined the war against Islamists in its chaotic northern neighbor two years ago. The group created funding, recruiting and training networks in Kenya. Kenyatta dismissed an al Shabaab demand to pull Kenyan troops from Somalia after the mall siege began. 
 
 The attack bears out Western concern that Somalia, a hotspot in the U.S.-led war on Islamist militants across the globe, may be a launchpad for strikes on regional countries even as African troops put them on the defensive in the Horn of Africa state. 
 
 Obama, whose father was Kenyan, said he believed the country - scene of one of al Qaeda's first big attacks, in 1998, when a bomb devastated the U.S. embassy in Nairobi - would continue to be a regional pillar of stability. 
 
 Somalia's prime minister appealed in Geneva for international support to combat al Shabaab, but said a military solution to their insurgency alone was not enough. 
 
 Abdi Farah Shirdon said: "We still have a difficult journey ahead of us. A military solution alone is not enough, promotion of rule of law, greater regional cooperation and economic stability and provision of public services are all key factors." 
 
 (Reporting by James Macharia, Duncan Miriri and Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Pascal Fletcher in Nairobi.; Writing by Edmund Blair and James Macharia.; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Christopher Wilson) ||||| The bombing of a Kenyan shopping mall by the terrorist organization ­Al-Shabab is shining an unwelcome spotlight on Minnesota’s Somali community, which has been tied in the past to terrorism and Islamic extremism. 
 
 Home to the largest Somali community in the United States, the Twin Cities has been a recruiting ground for ­Al-Shabab, an Al-Qaida-linked extremist Islamic group that has taken responsibility for carrying out the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. 
 
 Minnesota Somali leaders on Monday moved quickly to distance the community from the attacks, while awaiting word on the possibility that recruits from the state may once again be involved in violent terrorist action overseas. They refused to address reports that Somali-Americans were involved in the attack and said they had little information about who may have been involved. 
 
 Kyle Loven, a spokesman for the FBI in Minnesota, said the local office’s investigation into recruitment of Somali-Americans into Al-Shabab remains active. He added that the local office is monitoring the situation in Nairobi but is not able to confirm identities of anyone involved. 
 
 At an afternoon news conference, several Somali religious leaders sought to address any potential suspicions of a local connection, pushed to the ­forefront by a weekend Twitter post, later called inaccurate, that two of the Nairobi attackers were from Minnesota. Also on Monday, a Kenyan official told PBS NewsHour that two or three Americans were involved in the attack, and that one or two of them may have lived in Minnesota. 
 
 “The safety and security of the United States is of utmost importance to Somali-Americans, and we are committed to be in the forefront of defeating extremism,” said Abdisalam Adam, an imam of the Islamic Civic Society of America. 
 
 They called on Muslim youth to reject being recruited into extremist groups, and for religious leaders to preach about the dangers of extremist ideologies. 
 
 “This kind of activity, killing innocent people, has no base or any relationship with Islam,” said Abdirizak Hashi, an imam at Abubakar ­As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis. 
 
 “They do not represent any religion, they do not represent any community, they do not represent any nationality,” said Ibrahim Baraki, a Kenya native. “They are an organized group of criminals who have conspired to kill and destroy innocent lives. They are nothing but criminals. They are not ­Muslims.” 
 
 Vigorous recruitment 
 
 In what the FBI has said is one of the largest efforts to recruit Americans to a foreign terrorist group, at least 20 men have left Minnesota since 2007 to join the organization. Two have died as ­suicide bombers. 
 
 A federal judge sentenced four men to prison this year for helping recruit young men in Minnesota to travel to Somalia and fight for the ­militant group. 
 
 Abdirizak Bihi, a Twin Citian whose nephew was recruited and later killed, said he has heard from relatives that at least two young Somali-American men from the Twin Cities left for Somalia earlier this month and have not been heard from. 
 
 “It’s a scary situation,” said Bihi, who has become an advocate for and de facto recorder of Somalis who have left. “We may not know for some time what the end result will be.” 
 
 Meanwhile, a Minnesota Somali woman is worried about two nieces hurt in Kenya. Hodan Hassan of Minnetonka says the 17-year-old and 16-year-old were shopping when the attackers struck. She said the older one is in critical condition; the other was not as seriously hurt. She says they’re Canadian citizens who moved to ­Nairobi three years ago. 
 
 Former Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who now teaches courses on Minnesota’s Somali community and ties to Al-Shabab, said it would be wrong to assume a similarity to the previous cases. Fletcher was part of a group who taught a course last year, “Being Prepared for Al-Shabab,” to law enforcement and others. 
 
 The nature of recruitment in Minnesota has changed and so has the makeup of Al-Shabab, he said. 
 
 Fletcher said religious leaders who might have encouraged radicalization may be less likely to be outspoken about recruitment to Al-Shabab because of the FBI’s investigation and successful federal ­prosecutions. ||||| Sporadic gunfire rang out early Tuesday from inside a Nairobi mall as Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists into a fourth day in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left more than 60 people dead. 
 
 Kenyan army soldiers patrol near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day Monday in what... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan army soldiers with sniffer dogs patrol near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan soldiers enter the Westgate Mall through the main entrance, following a bout of heavy gunfire just after dawn, in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan Defense Forces leave the near vicinity of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi Kenya Monday Sept. 23 2013. Multiple large blasts have rocked the mall where a hostage siege is in its third day. Associated... (Associated Press) 
 
 Fires at the rear of the Westgate Mall are seen through the treeline, at dawn in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for... (Associated Press) 
 
 A television reporter makes a telephone call while filming during a bout of heavy gunfire shortly after dawn, at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Kenya Army helicopter flies behind a plume of black smoke billowing from the Westgate Mall, following large explosions and heavy gunfire, in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Sept. 23, 2013. Four large blasts... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan army soldiers patrol near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day Monday in what... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Kenyan soldier prepares to enter the Westgate Mall, following a bout of heavy gunfire just after dawn, in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan police and army soldiers stand near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya wait Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kenyan army soldiers and police officers patrol near the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third... (Associated Press) 
 
 Despite Kenyan government assurances of success, an explosion and gunfire could be heard coming from the mall at around 6:30 a.m., followed by the sustained chatter of automatic weapons for about a minute almost three hours later, according to Associated Press reporters at the scene. 
 
 Security forces carried a body out of the mall, which remained on fire, with flames and smoke visible. A Kenyan soldier wearing bomb disposal protective gear also exited the building. 
 
 While the government announced Sunday that "most" hostages had been released, a security expert with contacts inside the mall said at least 10 were still being held by a band of attackers described as "a multinational collection from all over the world." 
 
 Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the attack, posted an audio message on a pro-militant website late Monday that they were still in control of the building. 
 
 "Despite botched attempts by the Jews and Christians to recapture the mall today, the mujahideen are still in control of the Westgate," al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in the message. 
 
 "The upper hand still remains theirs," he said. 
 
 Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said "two or three Americans" and "one Brit" were among those who attacked the mall. 
 
 She said in an interview with the PBS "NewsHour" program that the Americans were 18 to 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin and lived "in Minnesota and one other place" in the U.S. The attacker from Britain was a woman who has "done this many times before," Mohamed said. 
 
 U.S. officials said they were looking into whether any Americans were involved. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that the department had "no definitive evidence of the nationalities or the identities" of the attackers. 
 
 Britain's foreign office said it was aware of the foreign minister's remarks, but would not confirm if a British woman was involved. 
 
 The security expert, who insisted on anonymity to talk freely about the situation, said many hostages had been freed or escaped in the previous 24-36 hours, including some who were in hiding. 
 
 However, there were at least 30 hostages when the assault by al-Shabab militants began Saturday, he said, and "it's clear" that Kenyan security officials "haven't cleared the building fully." 
 
 Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the country's president would make an address to the nation later in the day but said he could give no immediate details on the operation. 
 
 Flames and dark plumes of smoke rose Monday above the Westgate shopping complex for more than an hour after four large explosions rocked the surrounding neighborhood. The smoke was pouring through a large skylight inside the mall's main department and grocery store, where mattresses and other flammable goods appeared to have been set on fire, a person with knowledge of the rescue operation told The Associated Press. 
 
 The explosions were followed by volleys of gunfire as police helicopters and a military jet circled overhead, giving the neighborhood the feel of a war zone. An armored personnel carrier sat in front of the building. 
 
 By Monday evening, Kenyan security officials said they had claimed the upper hand. 
 
 "Taken control of all the floors. We're not here to feed the attackers with pastries but to finish and punish them," Police Inspector General David Kimaiyo said on Twitter. 
 
 Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said the evacuation of hostages had gone "very, very well" and that Kenyan officials were "very certain" that few if any hostages were left in the building. 
 
 But with the mall cordoned off and under heavy security it was not possible to independently verify the assertions. Similar claims of a quick resolution were made by Kenyan officials on Sunday and the siege continued. Authorities have also not provided any details on how many hostages were freed or how many still remain captive. 
 
 Three attackers were killed in the fighting Monday, Kenyan authorities said, and more than 10 suspects arrested. Eleven Kenyan soldiers were wounded in the running gun battles. 
 
 An al-Shabab spokesman, Rage, said in the audio file that the attackers had been ordered to "take punitive action against the hostages" if force was used to try to rescue them. 
 
 A Western security official in Nairobi who insisted on not being named to share information about the rescue operation said the only reason the siege hadn't yet ended would be because hostages were still inside. 
 
 Westgate mall, a vast complex with multiple banks that have secure vaults and bulletproof glass partitions, as well as a casino, is difficult to take, the official said. "They are not made for storming," he said of the labyrinth of shops, restaurants and offices. "They're made to be unstormable." 
 
 At least 62 people were killed in the assault Saturday by some 12 to 15 al-Shabab militants wielding grenades and firing on civilians inside the mall, which includes shops for such retail giants as Nike, Adidas and Bose and is popular with foreigners and wealthy Kenyans. 
 
 The militants specifically targeted non-Muslims, and at least 18 foreigners were among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China. Nearly 200 people were wounded, including five Americans. 
 
 Fighters from an array of nations participated in the assault, according to Kenya's Chief of Defense forces Gen. Julius Karangi. "We have an idea who these people are and they are clearly a multinational collection from all over the world," he said. 
 
 Al-Shabab, whose name means "The Youth" in Arabic, said the mall attack was in retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia. African Union forces pushed the al-Qaida-affiliated group out of Somalia's capital in 2011. 
 
 The attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi's Westlands neighborhood was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al-Qaida truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people. 
 
 An extremist Islamic terrorist force that grew out of the anarchy that crippled Somalia after warlords ousted a longtime dictator in 1991, al-Shabab is estimated to have several thousand fighters, including a few hundred foreigners, among them militants from the Middle East with experience in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Others are young, raw recruits from Somali communities in the United States and Europe. 
 
 For years Minnesota has been the center of a federal investigation into the recruiting of fighters for al-Shabab. Authorities say about two dozen young men have left Minnesota since 2007 to join the group. Minnesota's Somali community is the largest in the U.S. 
 
 Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the attack showed that al-Shabab was a threat not just to Somalia but to the international community. 
 
 Mohamed, the Kenyan foreign minister, said her country needs to work with other governments to fight the increasing terrorist threat and "much more with the U.S and the U.K., because both the victims and the perpetrators came from Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press reporters Rodney Muhumuza, Ben Curtis, David Rising, Adam Schreck and Jacob Kushner in Nairobi, Kenya, Cassandra Vinograd in London, and Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia, contributed to this report. ||||| NAIROBI, Kenya — Authorities said they were going floor by floor through a darkened, smoldering mall early Tuesday as they searched for remnants of a team of attackers that had seized the building, and that they believed all those trapped or held hostage had been freed. 
 
 But after conflicting statements from Kenyan officials about the status of operations, and on-and-off volleys of heavy gunfire and explosions, much remained unclear, including how many hostages there might have been and how close the nearly three-day drama really was to being over. 
 
 U.S. officials said they could not confirm reports that Americans were among the estimated 10 to 15 attackers. The Shabab militant group, which claimed responsibility for the assault, is linked to Al Qaeda. It is known to have recruited Americans, Europeans and other foreigners, including Kenyans. 
 
 Officials, who reported Sunday that 68 people had been killed, lowered the toll to 62 on Monday, saying some of the dead had been counted twice. Among those killed were six British citizens; two French; two Canadians; and a well-known Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonor. 
 
 Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said a nephew and his nephew's fiancee had been slain, but that more than 1,000 people escaped the upscale mall after the attack began midday Saturday. 
 
 Kenyan officials said three attackers had been killed and others wounded. Unconfirmed Kenyan media reports said six gunmen had died. Ten people had been arrested for questioning, officials said. 
 
 "Our forces are combing the mall floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. We believe all hostages have been released," the Interior Ministry said in a Twitter message early Tuesday morning. It said an hour later that security forces "continue to secure the Westgate mall building. Official statement on status of the operation to be issued later." 
 
 A major assault by security forces began with gunfire ringing out at dawn Monday. The attack reached a crescendo in the early afternoon, with a volley of explosions and heavy arms fire. Black smoke poured out of the building, as a fire raged for many hours. 
 
 Kenyan armed forces chief Gen. Julius Karangi said the fire was started by the assailants as a diversion in a bid to flee the building, but provided no more detail. 
 
 Explosions and gunfire continued on and off throughout the day. Defense officials said the attackers were in one location in the mall, with no way to escape. 
 
 Earlier Monday, Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said at a news conference that efforts to release the hostages had been "very, very successful" and those being held were "very few." 
 
 But it wasn't clear whether people had simply escaped the mall after hiding or whether they had been freed by security forces. There was also speculation that the attackers may have been holed up in a supermarket within the mall, without hostages. 
 
 As of late Monday, it appeared no one had come forward to say they had been held by the militants and freed by security forces. Several people described Sunday how they had hidden in the mall and later escaped. 
 
 The Shabab said it attacked Kenya's most prestigious shopping center to punish the country for sending soldiers into Somalia. The group had been warning for two years that it would mount a major terrorist assault in Nairobi, but to date its attacks have largely been small-scale shootings or grenade attacks. 
 
 The group had controlled most of Somalia, which has been without a functioning government for much of the last 20 years. But it has lost most of its strongholds since Kenya invaded. An African Union military force is also working with Kenya's weak national government. 
 
 The Shabab recently split because of discord on policy and has lost popularity among Somalis partly because of suicide bombings in the capital, Mogadishu, that killed civilians, mostly Muslims. 
 
 The siege in Nairobi has raised questions about the level of security at the shopping mall and whether Kenyan intelligence had any warning of an attack. Kenyan authorities are urging people not to assign blame and to focus instead on unity. 
 
 Karangi, the defense forces chief, said the militants came from a number of countries. 
 
 "We have an idea who these people are, and they're clearly a multinational collection from all over the world," Karangi said. "We're fighting global terrorism." He declined to reveal the nationalities of the gunmen. 
 
 Ben Rhodes, President Obama's deputy national security advisor, said the U.S. had been concerned for some time about efforts by the Shabab to recruit Americans to fight in Somalia. Americans are known to have joined the group.
– Is the siege of Nairobi's Westgate Mall finally near an end? Kenyan authorities say they believe all the hostages have been released, but journalists from the AP and Reuters heard yet more gunfire and explosions as the Kenyan military moved through the building. Officials say the military is going from floor to floor and room to room in the darkened building searching for surviving militants, the Los Angeles Times reports. Somalia's al-Shabab militant group tweeted early today that its fighters "are still holding their ground" and their captives are "still alive, looking quite disconcerted but, nevertheless, alive." In other developments: Kenya's foreign minister told PBS Newshour last night that two or three Americans were involved in the attack. She said they were of Arab or Somali origin, 18 or 19 years old, and had lived "in Minnesota and one other place" in the US. She said a British woman who had "done this many times before" was also involved, contradicting another minister's statement that all the attackers were men. Security officials and soldiers told Reuters that a white woman was among the attackers killed, though they couldn't confirm whether she was Samantha Lewthwaite, the al-Shabab-linked widow of a British terrorist. The State Department says that it is investigating reports that Americans were involved, but "at this point we have no definitive evidence of the nationalities or identities of the perpetrators," the Washington Post reports. Witnesses say most of the attackers were young and shouted to each other in English. British officials say they will not discuss the identity of the attackers while the investigation continues, reports the BBC. Officials say at least six attackers have been killed and around 10 more captured. The civilian body count stands at 62, but the Red Cross says 63 people are still unaccounted for. In Minnesota, home to America's largest Somali community, Muslim leaders refused to comment on reports that Somali Americans were involved in the attack but spoke firmly against extremism, the Star Tribune reports. The attackers "do not represent any religion, they do not represent any community, they do not represent any nationality," one imam said. "They are an organized group of criminals who have conspired to kill and destroy innocent lives. They are nothing but criminals. They are not ­Muslims."