Terrorists linked to al-Qaeda claim responsibility for Kenyan Mall massacre on TWITTER: Female Canadian diplomat, 29, among at least 40 people killed as militants hold up to 50 hostage

• .Security guards have been shown wheeling out bodies in shopping carts from Westlands Shopping Center
• .The US State Department has confirmed four Americans were injured in the World Peace Day attack
• .Somalian terrorist group al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda, has now claimed responsibility for the attack
• .The terrorist organization released a statement released saying it warned Kenya to remove troops from Somalia
• .Security forces have secured the first and second floors of the five-story shopping center
• .Between 20 and 50 hostages may still be held inside, according to Kenyan media
• .Security forces have 'contained, but not arrested' the gunmen, as the seige nears the 24-hour mark
• .The army and special forces are helping police flush out the gunmen, one of whom is believed to be a woman
• .Two gunman have been killed by authorities, as many as eight more remain
• .Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges, 29, and pregnant Kenyan radio journalist Ruhila Adatia are among the dead
• .The upscale mall is a favorite shopping spot for expats and wealthy Kenyans
• .In what may be a first, terrorists live-tweeted the attack
• .Witness says attackers told shoppers non-Muslims were the targets

By ELLIE BUCHDAHL, STUART WOLEDGE and RYAN GORMAN

Americans were injured in a terror attack by as many as 10 gunmen at a Nairobi, Kenya, shopping center that has left at least 40 people dead and as many as 300 injured - a female Canadian diplomat and a pregnant popular Kenyan radio journalist are among the dead.

The US State Department has confirmed that four Americans were hurt in the mass shooting Saturday in a statement issued from the US Embassy in Nairobi, but declined to give names or an exact number of Americans hurt. Americans are not believed to be among the dead at this time. The dead range in ages from two to 78-years-old, according to a Kenyan government official. Five hostages were released around 2am local time.

American Elaine Dang, 26, has been identified as one of the Americans injured in the brutal terror attack.

Bloodied: Elaine Dang (right) is the first injured American to be identified

Battered: Ms Dang's head, face and arms are covered in blood and her jeans are torn at her bloody knee - the extent of her injuries is not known at this time

As of 8:30am local time, between 20 and 50 hostages were reported to be held inside the mall, a source told KTN. The network noted it was unable to independently confirm those numbers. Two gunmen have been killed by authorities, but as many as eight more remain, CNN reported.

Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the atrocity - in which men armed with guns and grenades stormed the mall and targeted non-Muslims. al-Shabaab is the Somali arm of al-Qaeda. Amazingly, terrorists live-tweeted the attack until their Twitter account was suspended.

Multiple Kenyan news outlets have reported that the gunmen have been contained, but not arrested. Hostages are thought to be scattered around the shopping center in separate locations from the gunmen, according to KTN.

The savage execution of at least 40 people began on the International Day of Peace, which is usually celebrated by temporary cease-fires in conflict zones in order to allow for humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations.

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Horror: Shoppers hurry down an escalator with their hands in the air as they make their way out of the shopping centre to safety

Army: Soldiers were drafted in to help police tackle the gunmen, who are now known to be terrorists from the Somali al-Shabaab organisation, which has links to al-Qaeda

Desperation: A crowd of people hold their arms out to catch a Kenyan woman as she jumps out from the air vent where she had been hiding from the gunmen

Emergency: A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside who was among those caught in the shooting

Escape: Women carrying children run for safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree in Westgate shopping centre

Spree: Shots are still being heard in the mall as police and terrorists engage in a stand-off

Hands up: Hostages of all nationalities head for the exit with their arms raised to show they are not carrying any weapons

Identified: Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges, 29, was shot dead by the gunmen

'We have reports of American citizens injured in the attack, and the U.S. Embassy is actively reaching out to provide assistance,' Marie Harf, deputy spokesman for the State Department said in the statement.

'We condemn this senseless act of violence that has resulted in death and injury for many innocent men, women, and children,' said Ms Harf. 

Citing privacy concerns, the embassy declined to identify the Americans involved, but an official did tell the Associated press that four Americans were injured in the assault. The wife of an American diplomat is known to be among the dead.

Terrorist gunmen remain at the scene and police officers supported by the army are still fighting to bring the situation to an end. There are also reports the gunmen are holding hostages inside the mall.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told the shocked country during an evening address that he lost multiple family members in the attack.

'We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to,' said President Uhuru Kenyatta. 'We shall get them. We shall punish them for this heinous crime.'

'We are as brave and invincible as the lions on our coat of arms, my government stands ready... I urge all Kenyans to stand together and see this dark moment through,' the clearly shaken president continued.

A confidential United Nations report cited by the New York Times called the attack 'a complex, two-pronged assault' with two squads of gunmen opening fire while storming the mall from different floors. Witnesses told the paper one of the gunmen was a woman.

Several armed units and soldiers could be seen on Kenyan television streaming into the area surrounding the mall as the seige approached the 20 hour mark. Reports also indicated the gunmen were firing on authorities staged in the parking lot as the sun came up. Continuous sporadic gunfire continued through the morning.

Here they come to save the day: Kenya Defense Forces arrive outside the Westgate Mall just after dawn, it didn't take long for the gunmen to start firing at them

Wounded: A Kenyan policeman sits clutching his stomach alongside his rifle while a colleague exchanges fire with the terrorists

Scared: Clearly distressed, this family join hands as they make their way out of the building. Bullet wounds can be seen in the glass behind them

Cat and mouse: A security officer points out the location of where some of the terrorists may be hiding to his colleagues, all three of whom have their pistols at the ready

Hannah Chisholm, a Briton visiting Nairobi, said she and 60 others barricaded themselves into a large storeroom.

'We kept running to different places but the shots were getting louder so we barricaded ourselves along with about 60 others into a large storeroom. There were children hiding with us as well as someone who had been shot, she told the BBC.

'The gunfire was loud and we were scared but at that point we thought the gunmen were thieves so we assumed they wouldn't try to reach the storeroom,' she added. 

Britain's Foreign Secretary said Britons were 'undoubtedly caught up in the attack.' French news agency AFP has said two French citizens were also among the dead. Canada's government announced the deaths of two Canadians. Two Indians were killed, four - including two women - were injured, according to NDTV.

One of the dead Canadians is diplomat Annemarie Desloges, 29, the Canadian government announced. Mrs Desloges was shopping with her husband when the attack took place, according to the Vancouver Sun. She was a liaison officer with the Canada Border Services Agency, working on immigration issues, the paper noted. Ms Deloges had been living in Kenya for two years.

Pregnant Kenyan radio journalist Ruhila Adatia was also killed by the gunmen. Prior to going shopping for clothes for her unborn child, friend Kamal Kaur told KTN, Ms Adatia was hosting a children's cooking competition in the mall's parking lot. Active on social media, the popular presenter posted several pictures taken posing with fans to Instagram

Fellow journalist Kamal Kaur, who was with Ms Adatia in the mall when she was shot dead, told KTN that her children sustained injuries. Both of them had schrapnel in their legs, one had a head injury, she said. Both children were very close to Ms Adatia, she added, before talking about how excited the expectant mother was in anticipation of her baby.

'She was so excited about her baby, I don’t know what to do… I’m lost, I’m lost,' a hysterical Ms Kaur told the station between uncontrollable crying.

'Images of the day keep flashing in front of my eyes. Dead bodies, injured people, wailing, crying, scared, Ms Kaur tweeted hours after the attack.

'He stood there with a gun. Aiming it where the kids were. And the b*****d shot them,' Ms Kaur tweeted.

Dead radio journalist: a pregnant Ruhila Adatia was at the mall shopping for clothes for her unborn child, friend and fellow journalist Kamal Kaur told KTN

I don't know what I'm going to do: Ms Kaur was beside herself with survivor's guilt, shouting into the phone that she didn't know what she was going to do, or how she'd carry on, when talking to KTN

Shaken: Journalist Kamal Kaur and her children were hurt, her best friend killed and she's covered in a dead child's blood

In desperate need: An injured woman cries for help after being shot by gunmen

Helping hands: An injured man is carried out of the Westgate shopping center after Saturday's attack

Scramble: People rush for safety away from gunfire between police and armed attackers

Fleeing: A child runs to safety across the shopping mall

AL-SHABAAB AT A GLANCE

• Translated from Arabic means 'The Youth'
• Evolved from being the de-facto police in Mogadishu, Somalia into terrorism
• Began suicide bombings in 2009 while attempting to overthrow Somali transitional government
• The largest Somalian terror organization
• Affiliated with al-Qaeda
• Has recruited members from many countries, including the US
• 14 youths from Minnesota were charged in 2009 for trying to join the group
• Also claimed responsibility for 2010 attack in Uganda that killed 74 at a soccer match
• Main targets are Kenya and Uganda because they fund Somali government

Source: al-Jazeera America

Al-Shabaab, also known as Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM), claimed responsibility for the atrocity on Twitter. The terrorist organization said it had previously warned the Kenyan government that, if they did not remove military forces from Somalia, there would be 'severe consequences'.

'For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land,' terrorists tweeted, before launching into a chilling account of the attack as it unfolded. 

al-Shabaab terrorists also attempted to explain their reasoning for the attack - in a single tweet.

'The Mujahideen entered Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the Kenyan Kuffar inside their own turf.'

The organization claimed it had killed more than 100 Kenyan 'kuffar', a derogatory term used to describe non-Muslims.

'Since our last contact, the Mujahideen inside the mall confirmed to @HSM_Press that they killed over 100 Kenyan kiffar & battle is ongoing.' the tweets continued.

'What Kenyans are witnessing today at #Westgate is retributive justice for crimes committed by their military, albeit largely miniscule in nature,' read the final tweet.

Twitter soon suspended the @HSM_Press Twitter account, citing the site's terms of service regarding violence or threats.

'Violence and Threats: You may not publish or post direct, specific threats of violence against others.'

Twitter has declined any further comment.

Chilling: al-Shabaab terrorists live-tweeted the attack until Twitter suspended their account

Staging: Kenya Defense Forces soldiers prepare for the final push to rescue the hostages and neutralize the gunmen

Protection: A mother and her children lie on the floor as they attempt to hide while the gunmen armed with automatic weapons go on the rampage

Terrified: A young in tears is led away form the terror by a police officer

Kenyan President Uhuru said a close family member was among the victims. In a televised address, he added: 'The despicable perpetrators of this cowardly act hoped to intimidate, divide and cause despondency amongst Kenyans.

'We have overcome terrorist attacks before. We will defeat them again.'

Gunmen who opened fire at a shopping center killing at least 39 and injuring dozens more today let Muslims go free if they could prove they were Islamic.

Witnesses lucky enough to escape the attack said anyone who could recite a Muslim prayer to their captors was allowed to leave unscathed. But the attackers turned their guns on anyone who could not prove they were Islamic.

Kenyan police and soldiers have pinned down the remaining gunmen who opened fire, according to a security source at the scene.

'The attackers have been isolated and are pinned down in an area on one of the floors - the rest of the mall seems to be secure,' the source said.

Safety: Shoppers and shop assistants raise their hands as they are escorted out by armed police

Children: A soldier carries one of the survivors to safety as armed police hunt for the gunmen

Hunt: Armed police search customers taking cover inside a bathroom at the shopping centre

Another survivor lucky enough to dodg the flying bullets claimed that the gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that only non-Muslims would be targeted when they opened fire at the upmarket mall of the Westlands district around midday.

At least two dozen people, wounded and dead, were wheeled out on stretchers and in shopping cartss by security guards, while others were seen walking out of the building, clutching bloodied clothing around their injuries.

Locals and tourists who were out shopping on the sunny Saturday in Kenya ran screaming from the building and cars were left abandoned as attackers threw grenades and fired AK47s. 

Over the course of an hour people streamed from the building, at least half a dozen covered in blood and clutching small children to them. At least one young boy is believed to have been among those killed.

'Militants went into the mall and executed people: women and children, anyone who got in their path,' New York Times staff photographer Tyler HIcks told the paper in an interview. Mr Hicks was in the mall during the attack.

Pools of blood everywhere: This close up shows the hand of a man killed by the gunmen

The parking lot too: A dead man lies on the ground outside the Westgate shopping center, the condition of the person being loaded onto the stretcher is not known

Heartbreaking: This couple shot dead by the gunmen in the food court spent their last moments hugging each other

Gunfight: Police are still trying to escort people away from the site where fighting continues

Hostages: Police say armed men are still in the building and are holding prisoners

Release: Hostages move out in a line after being rescued from the mall

Deadly: Armed police search Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi for the last remaining gunmen

Search: Police scour the centre with guns to try and locate the terrorists still holding hostages

Internal Security Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo said 'terrorists and threats have been present in Kenya for quite some time now,' during an afternoon news conference.

'The casualties are many, and that's only what we have on the outside. Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on,' Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Guled added.

There were unconfirmed reports of two large explosions, with several smaller explosions. Two people were reportedly injured on the road leading to the shopping center..

'We have officers at the scene trying to get out the group shooting inside. They have not been located,' a senior police official said earlier in the day, adding that 'officers are approaching the situation with caution because there are innocent civilians inside.'

Armed police arrived on the scene nearly half an hour later and could be heard shouting 'get out, get out' as scores of shoppers fled the building.

Dutch embassy employee Rob Vandijk said he had been eating at a restaurant in the shopping mall when gunmen threw hand grenades inside the building. Smoke billowed out of the entrance, which was believed to have been caused by the grenade attack.

Shocking: A young girl stands next to a dead body outside Westgate shopping center

Make-shift: An injured woman is wheeled out of the shopping center in a shopping cart

Shattered glass: A police officer tries to secure an area inside the Westgate Shopping Centre where gunmen went on a shooting spree in Nairobi

Shootout: Soldiers and armed police fire at the suspected terrorists as they try to wrest back control of the shopping centre

Special forces: The army and elite squads have now been drafted in to help police flush out the gunmen

Shootout: A police officer takes up position at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi

Rescue: A policeman carries a baby to safety on the barrel of his gun while a woman ducks for safety behind him

Stand-off: Soldiers are still searching in and around the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi after the supposed terrorist attack

People began to scream and drop to the ground, he said, as machine gun fire rang out across the busy mall.

'I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,' said another witness.

Police helicopters circled over the building as sporadic gunfire could be heard more than two hours after the attack was launched, authorities cordoned off the roads surrounding the mall in central Nairobi's Westlands neighborhood.

Manish Turohit, 18, who escaped after hiding in the parking garage for two hours, told reporters he saw gunmen with AK-47s and vests with hand grenades on them inside the center.

Police initially believed the attack was an attempt by about ten armed men to rob a shop. But Elijah Kamau, another survivor witness, said that the gunmen had announced that they were targeting non-Muslims as they began their attack at the center.

Some of those who escaped were 'challenged to recite a Muslim prayer and were then let out', according to Allan Sayers, who contacted MailOnline and said he was in the Westgate mall five minutes before the attack.

Mr Sayers said people were still in text and phone contact with some of the hostages.

'There are still many hostages still inside and reports of many more dead,' he added.

Wounded: A security officer helps an injured woman away from the building

Relief: A woman who had been held hostage makes it out alive from the mall, where seven are still being held

Injured: A security officer talks to his colleagues shortly after being helped from the scene having been wounded

Critical: A victim is wheeled into the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for emergency treatment

Rescue: A woman is shipped to an ambulance in a shopping trolley by centre staff

Devastating: Injured people receive assistance from bypassers at the scene of the shooting

Family mall: Customers who had planned a Saturday of shopping were forced to run following a shootout between unidentified armed men and the police

'They don't seem like thugs, this is not a robbery incident,' said Yukeh Mannasseh who was on the top floor when the shooting started. 'It seems like an attack. The guards who saw them said they were shooting indiscriminately.'

One victim said that he had been shot by a man who appeared to be Somali, while others noted the gunmen were speaking in a foreign language. 

'The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. There are definitely many casualties,' Sudjar Singh, who works at the shopping centre, told AFP.

'I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,' said another witness.

Errol Fernandes, a Kenyan businessman told reporters 'there were two guys – they came in from the car park on the roof. One had dreadlocks, he had an AK47 and was firing randomly.

'I just ran into the café kitchen and then we all hid in the refrigerator, until we were told to run out of the fire escape,' he added. 'I'm sure there must be many dead and injured.'

'The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed,' shopping center employee Sudjar Singh told AFP. 'There are definitely many casualties,'

Escape: An injured man who managed to flee the attackers is treated by paramedics outside the shopping centre

Terrorist: Somali Islamist attacks are not uncommon in Kenya, although police have not confirmed the identity of the attackers

Horror: Customers are evacuated from the shopping centre covered in blood

Victim: Rescuers attempt to evacuate a man injured in a shootout

Killings: At least 15 people are believed to be dead, although police have not confirmed a death toll

Help: A man carries a boy away from the scene of the carnage earlier today

Shock: Witnesses said a half dozen grenades went off along with volleys of gunfire that started at midday

An AFPTV reporter said shortly after the attack he saw police and security guards trying to secure a multi-screen cinema complex inside the mall where many had taken shelter.  She saw at least 20 people rescued from a toy shop on one of the upper floors of the building.

Attacks by Somali Islamists in Kenya often involve gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades, with targets including bars, nightclubs and restaurants in various parts of the country.

There was a suspected al-Shabaab attack which left five dead and three injured at a restaurant in the eastern city of Garissa in January, and in August last year one person was killed and six more were left injured in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi on the eve of a visit by Hillary Clinton, then the United States secretary of state.

The US Department of State has deferred to local authorities for information about the attack and has no plans for further comment at this time.