NAIROBI (KENYA): Gunmen threw grenades and opened fire from AK-47s at an upscale mall in Kenya’s capital on Saturday, killing at least 39 people and injuring over 150 in an attack targeting non-Muslims.

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta in a televised address to the nation confirmed the toll and added Kenya had "overcome terrorist attacks before, and we will defeat them again." Kenyatta told the nation he had also "personally lost family members in the Westgate attack".

"Our security forces are in the process of neutralizing the attackers and securing the mall," he said, as security operations went on late into the night.

Somalia's al Qaida-linked Shebab group said its fighters were behind the attack.

"They want to cause fear and despondency in our country, but we will not be cowed," Kenyatta said, adding: "Terrorism is a philosophy of cowards."

"I ask God to give you comfort. My government will provide the support needed in the days to come," he said.

People continued to trickle out from hiding places within the Westgate mall, which is frequented by expatriates and rich Kenyans in Nairobi's affluent Westlands neighbourhood.

“We are treating this as a terrorist attack,” said police chief Benson Kibue, adding that around 10 attackers were involved. Kenya’s interior ministry said, “It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously.”

Somali rebel group al-Shabab had vowed to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation to Kenya sending troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents. Police had identified the Westgate mall, of Israeli ownership, as a likely terror target in the city.

Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack, said, “The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe, and non-Muslims would be targeted”. Jay Patel, who sought cover on an upper floor in the mall when shooting began, said that when he looked out of a window onto the upper parking deck of the mall he saw the gunmen with a group of people. As the attackers were talking, some of the people stood up and left and the others were shot.

The gunmen carried AK-47s and wore vests with hand grenades on them, said Manish Turohit, 18, who hid in a parking garage for two hours. “They just came in and threw a grenade. We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing,” he said after being marched out of the mall in line with about 15 people who held their hands in the air.

Rob Vandijk, who works at the Dutch embassy, said he was eating at a restaurant inside the mall when attackers lobbed hand grenades inside the building. He said gunfire then burst out and people screamed as they dropped to the ground.

Off duty Sgt Major Frank Mugungu said he saw four male attackers and one female, and that he could clearly identify one of the gunmen as a Somali. It appears the attack began at the outdoor seating area of Artcaffe at the front of the mall, witnesses said.

Patrick Kuria, an employee at Artcaffe, said, “We started by hearing gunshots downstairs and outside. Later we heard them come inside. We took cover. Then we saw two gunmen wearing black turbans. I saw them shoot.”

Soon enough, police helicopters circled above the mall as armed police shouted “get out! get out!” and scores of shoppers fled the building. Smoke poured out of one entrance and witnesses said they heard grenade blasts. Some people were shot at the entrance to the mall after volleys of gunfire moved outside and a standoff with police began. Ambulances continued to stream in and out of the mall area, ferrying the wounded who gradually emerged from hiding inside the mall.

People clutched their small children, and some cried. At one point in the day mall guards used shopping carts to wheel out wounded children. A local hospital was overwhelmed with the number of wounded being brought in hours after the attack, so they had to divert them to a second facility.