Nairobi: Kenyan security forces have taken control of the Nairobi shopping mall where Islamist fighters killed at least 62 people, and that police were doing a final sweep of shops early Tuesday, after the last of the hostages had been rescued. There was an eerie silence outside the mall after a day in which gunfire and explosions were heard in the Westgate mall. A trickle of survivors escaped the building throughout the day on Monday, but the fate of people listed as missing was unclear.

Kenyan officials say there were 10 to 15 attackers. A government official said there was no resistance from the attackers late on Monday night after a barrage of gunfire and blasts throughout the day, but that the security forces were cautious in case some attackers were hiding in the building. "Our forces are combing the mall floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. We believe all hostages have been released," the Ministry of Interior said on Twitter.

Meanwhile Kenya's top diplomat on Monday said that there were two or three young American men and a British woman among the attackers. Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed, interviewed by US public broadcaster PBS, was asked about reports Americans and Britons were among those to blame for the carnage. "Yes," Mohamed said. "From the information that we have, two or three Americans, and I think so far I have heard of one Brit and it’s a woman."

"The Americans, from the information we have, are young men, about between maybe 18 and 19," she said, adding they were of Somali or Arab origin but "lived in the US, in Minnesota and one other place." "So, basically, look, that just was to underline, I think, the global nature of this war that we're fighting," Mohamed added.