Civilians escape an area at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi, on Sept. 21, 2013.
The Kenyan Ministry of the Interior said via Twitter Monday that government forces are “in control” of the Westgate Mall. Al-Shabab terrorists attacked the mall Saturday, killing at least 62, wounding 200 and taking an unknown number of hostages. The assault triggered a three-day standoff with Kenyan security forces that now appears to be waning.
Manoah Esipisu, a government spokesperson, told the AFP he believes “that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated” and that the siege is “close to being declared over.”
However, Esipisu added that “at the moment they have not met any resistance, but of course we are not ruling out the possibility that there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner.”