Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group said yesterday there were "countless dead bodies" in a Kenyan shopping mall as security forces searched for militants still holed up in the complex after a weekend attack that authorities say killed 62 people.

The al-Qaeda-linked attackers are believed by Western sources to include Americans and possibly a British woman who may be the widow of a suicide bomber who took part in an attack in London in 2005.

Al Shabaab in Somalia rejected suggestions that foreigners were involved. — Reuters