A brazen terrorist attack in a Nairobi shopping mall Saturday has left at least 39 people dead and more than 150 wounded, CNN is reporting.
Several British and Americans are among the injured, but the majority of casualties are Kenyans, authorities told CNN. Some are children.
The al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Westgate Mall, and they are still holding 36 people hostage while surrounded by police. "They Kenyan govt is pleading with our Mujahideen inside the mall for negotiations. There will be no negotiations whatsoever," the group posted on Twitter.
As you'd expect, photographs taken at the scene are frightening. A normally bustling mall was turned into a battle zone as militants and police have shot at each other.
Here's what we're seeing:
REUTERS
A child runs to safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
An armed police searches through a shopping centre for gunmen in Nairobi, September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
Women carrying children run for safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree in Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
Police take cover outside Westgate shopping centre where gunmen went on a shooting spree in Nairobi September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
Armed police guide a woman carrying a child to safety as they hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
People scramble for safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, September 21, 2013.
REUTERS
A Kenyan army soldier takes cover behind a wall at Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi September 21, 2013.