Gunmen attack crowded Kenya shopping mall

Simon Maina / AFP – Getty Images /

A woman is helped to safety after masked gunmen stormed an upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff in Nairobi on Saturday.

By Patrick Garrity, Staff Writer, NBC News

Gunmen stormed a crowded shopping mall frequented by Westerners on Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in a brazen midday attack.

A witness said that gunmen armed with AK-47s and grenades told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted, according to The Associated Press.

At least 15 people have been killed in the assault, the Kenya Red Cross estimated, though Kenyan police and government officials have not released numbers of casualties.

Simon Maina / AFP – Getty Images

A policeman carries a baby to safety.

"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 Reuters.

"Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on," he said.

Two hours after the attack began, armed police combed the shopping complex store by store and sporadic gunfire could still be heard. Kenyan soldiers have joined an operation to flush out gunmen, a Reuters witness said.

The Westgate shopping mall is reportedly a popular spot for wealthy Kenyans and tourists.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack. Somalia's rebel group al-Shabab vowed in late 2011 to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's sending of troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents, according to the AP.

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

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:13 AM EDT