U.S. President Calls Kenya Mall Attack 'Terrible Outrage'

Kenyan soldiers take cover after exchangning heavy gunfire with Islamist extremists during a siege at the Westgate mall in Nairobi on September 23.

U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States stands by Kenya in its effort to cope with the "terrible outrage" of the ongoing terrorist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.

Obama made the comments on September 23 while meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in New York.

At least 62 people have been killed in the incident, which began when armed extremists from the Al-Shabab movement in neighboring Somalia stormed the Kenyan mall on September 21.

Kenyan security forces are still working to secure the site.

British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said on September 23 that six British citizens are now believed to have been killed.

During a speech in the U.S. state of Ohio on the same date, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Al-Shabab "is not a threat to Somalia and the Somali people alone," but to Africa and the entire world.


Based on reporting by AP and Reuters