AS THE extremist attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, enters its third day, security forces have continued their assault, killing two of the terrorists and freeing a number of hostages.

Sixty-two people have been killed and more than 170 injured since the attack began in the capital on Saturday. An unknown number of gunmen who are still holed up inside the mall are believed to be holding several hostages.

Four Britons are thought to have been killed, but the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that that number is likely to rise.

The Somali al-Shabab movement has said it is behind the attack. The group, part of the al-Qaeda network, had threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.

AFP reported that the gunmen are from a number of different countries. A Kenyan army chief, Julius Karangi, told the agency the attackers are of various nationalities: "They are from different countries. We have sufficient intelligence this is global terrorism," he said.

According to reports, the gunmen targeted non-Muslims, giving Muslims a chance to leave the shopping centre, which was packed with about 1000 shoppers at the time of the attack.

Archbishop Peter Jensen, general security of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, which is due to hold its Gafcon 2 conference in Nairobi next month, has flown out to the country today to assess the security arrangements for the conference.