Shots and Explosions Heard as Kenya Presses Assault Against Militants in Mall

NAIROBI, Kenya — The standoff at a luxury mall in Nairobi, which the Kenyan authorities had vowed would end Sunday night, entered a third day Monday heralded by volleys of gunfire, the boom of explosions and a column of thick, black smoke rising from the besieged shopping center.
Government troops could be seen massing outside the building.
Seeking to end an assault that has left scores dead and shaken the country, the Kenyan government said on Sunday it was pressing a counterattack against Shabab militant attackers holed up in the mall since Saturday. The military announced that it had retaken most of the complex of stores and cafes, but by early Monday, government forces appeared to have found it more difficult to dislodge the attackers than expected.