Kenya was battling with its worst terrorist attack in more than a decade yesterday, fighting to free the “many” civilians still trapped inside an upmarket mall in Nairobi where at least 68 people have died.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address that the country’s security forces were trying to rescue “many unarmed, badly shaken innocent civilians” at the siege on the Westgate mall, which is popular with affluent Kenyans and expatriates.

Although he asked the nation for patience to resolve the crisis, signs emerged yesterday that security forces were engaged in fierce combat inside the building, with ambulances ferrying out the wounded, in what appeared to be a night-time rescue operation. The shopping mall was rocked at times by bursts of gunfire and explosions, while military helicopters flew overhead.