CCTV: Gunmen enter Nairobi hotel; at least 15 killed in attack

At least 15 people have been killed in a terror attack after gunmen entered the upmarket DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi and opened fire on tourists inside the complex.

CCTV footage showed gunmen entering the upscale compound almost unchallenged. Terror group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack which took place in mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

SITE Intelligence Group informed that al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab was responsible for the attack at the DusitD2 hotel.

"We have 15 people dead as of now and that includes foreigners. You will be given more details on all this and even the nationalities by our seniors," a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Al-Shabaab had earlier attacked a shopping mall Nairobi in 2013.

A US citizen was also killed in the attack, State Department officials said. The United States commended Kenyan authorities and said it was providing unspecified assistance in the response.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the terrible attack at the Dusit2 Hotel complex in Nairobi,"  US ambassador in Nairobi Bob Godec tweeted.

Police said it was a "co-ordinated" operation that included a suicide bombing inside the hotel premises. Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinnet said, "a number of guests suffered serious injuries".

It took several hours for security forces to neutralise the terrorists as gun shots could be heard deep into the night, almost six hours into the attack. Reports said as soon as the attack started hundreds of terrified office workers barricaded themselves in the complex while some fled.

Several foreign forces soldiers from nearby embassy joined the local security services to subdue the attackers.