A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, after gunmen threw grenades and opened fire during an attack that left multiple dead and dozens wounded. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi) -------------------------------- Islamist gunmen holed up with hostages in Nairobi siege, 59 deadNAIROBI (Reuters) - Islamist militants were holed up with hostages on Sunday at a shopping mall in Nairobi, where at least 59 people have been killed in an attack by the al Shabaab group that opposes Kenya's participation in a peacekeeping mission in neighboring Somalia. A volley of gunfire lasting about 30 seconds interrupted a stalemate of several hours, a Reuters witness said, speaking from close to the shopping center that has several Israeli-owned outlets and which is frequented by expatriates and Kenyans. Foreigners, including two diplomats - one from Canada and another from Ghana - were killed in Saturday's attack at Westgate mall, claimed by the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab. Shortly after the shots were fired, troops in camouflage ran crouching below a restaurant terrace along the front of the building that had been buzzing with customers when assailants charged in. One witness said they first told Muslims to leave. For hours after the brazen attack, the dead were strewn around tables of unfinished meals. At one burger restaurant, a man and woman lay in a final embrace after they had been killed, before their bodies were removed. Pop music was left playing. Scores of Kenyans gathered at a site overlooking the mall, awaiting what they expected to be a violent denouement. "They entered through blood, that's how they'll leave," said Jonathan Maungo, a private security guard. President Uhuru Kenyatta, facing his first major security challenge since a March election, said some of his close family members were among the dead, and vowed to defeat the militants. "We have overcome terrorist attacks before," he said. The assault was the biggest single attack in Kenya since al Qaeda's East Africa cell bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people. In 2002, the same militant cell attacked an Israeli-owned hotel on the coast and tried to shoot down an Israeli jet in a coordinated strike. Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters the death toll had risen to 59, and that security forces were doing everything they could to rescue hostages still inside the mall. COMBING THE MALL He added that 175 people had been taken to hospital after an assault that could prove a costly setback for east Africa's biggest economy, which relies heavily on tourism revenues. More than 1,000 people were evacuated in the standoff. The dead included children, and the wounded ranged in age from 2 to 78. Many victims were at a cooking competition when assailants opened fire on them, witnesses said. The focus of attention on Sunday was on Nakumatt supermarket, one of Kenya's biggest chains. Soldiers joined the security operation backed by armored personnel carriers in the hours after the attack that was launched around 12.30 p.m. (0930 GMT) on Saturday. Security forces have been combing through the mall, clearing the floors. As helicopters hovered over the capital, a paramilitary officer at the scene, a rifle slung over his shoulder, said: "They will be arranging how to attack (the assailants)." One woman emerged on Sunday morning after hiding under a car in the basement. She held one shoe and looked dazed, while making a frantic phone call to her husband who later met her. France said two of its citizens were killed, and Canada said two Canadians died, including a 29-year-old diplomat. Ghanaian diplomat and poet, Kofi Awoonor, was also killed, as was a Chinese woman, according to China's official news agency. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who offered assistance to Kenya in the incident, said several U.S. citizens had been hurt and the wife of a U.S. diplomat working for the U.S. Agency for International Development was killed. Al Shabaab, which is battling Kenyan and other African peacekeepers in Somalia, had repeatedly threatened attacks in Kenya if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of their country. STILL TRAPPED The group appeared to taunt the security forces, saying on its official Twitter handle @HSM_Press that there would be no negotiations whatsoever with Kenyan officials over the standoff. "10 hours have passed and the Mujahideen are still strong inside #Westgate Mall and still holding their ground. All praise is due to Allah!", the group said late on Saturday, although its account on Twitter was suspended on Sunday morning. Relatives of hostages still trapped in the mall kept vigil overnight at a nearby religious community centre, and people queued up to donate blood across the country, responding to media appeals. Kevin Jamal, who had joined Kenya Red Cross Society volunteers, was awaiting news of his sister who he said was held inside. He said security forces could have done better. "They should not allow themselves to be outmaneuvered by less than 20 people," he said. A private security firm would normally search patrons of the mall using metal detectors and open the trunks of cars entering parking areas, but the guards would be unarmed. Nakumatt closed its other stores on Sunday, local media reported, while the mall was cordoned off and surrounded by police and paramilitary forces. Ole Lenku said the government believed that there were 10-15 attackers who security forces had been able to "isolate", but no communication had yet been established with them. Those rescued said at least one of the assailants was a woman. One militant was shot and arrested in clashes following the initial siege, but died shortly afterwards at a hospital. Witnesses said the attackers were armed with AK-47 rifles and wore ammunition belts. Police said they stormed in during a children's cooking competition hosted by a radio station at the mall, just as the winners were about to receive prizes. Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October 2011 to pursue militants it blamed for kidnapping tourists and attacking its security forces. Al Shabaab's last big attack outside Somalia was a twin assault in nearby Uganda, targeting people watching the World Cup final on television in Kampala in 2010, killing 77 people. (Additional reporting by James Macharia, Kevin Mwanza, Drazen Jorgic and Duncan Miriri; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mike Collett-White) Source : Reuters By Richard Lough and Edmund Blair