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Black smoke could be seen rising from the Westgate shopping centre
Kenyan security forces appear to have launched an assault on the Westgate shopping complex in the capital Nairobi in an attempt to break the siege there.
Gunfire and explosions were heard at the complex and a cloud of smoke could be seen billowing from the building.
A Kenyan police official said that security forces had rescued some hostages held by the attackers.
More than 69 people have died and more than 170 have been injured since the attack began on Saturday.
The Somali al-Shabab movement has said it carried out the attack.
It said it was in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
'Gaining advantage'The latest round of gunfire and explosions appears to be a dramatic turn of events in the security forces' operation, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports from Nairobi.
Television pictures showed troops running towards the complex. About 10 attackers were thought to be inside.
"We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers," inspector general of Kenyan police David Kimaiyo said in a tweet.
It is not clear as yet what caused the blasts, or what impact they are having on the operation to rescue hostages taken by the militants, our correspondent reports.
More troops can be seen on the move around the building, he adds.
Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that the fire at the building was started by the "terrorists".
Two of the attackers were killed this morning, and others injured. He gave a death toll of 62, lower than that of the the Kenyan Red Cross, who say 69 died.
"I work 400m away and I can see heavy black smoke," local resident Eric Onchangu told the BBC.
"I can see a helicopter and we know there are lots of KDF [security forces] in the area - we have been warned to stay indoors as it's so dangerous," he added.
By Sunday night, Kenyan security forces said they secured most of the shopping centre and that only a small number of hostages remained under the militants' control.
Repeated threatsMore than 1,000 people were inside the mall complex when the attack began on Saturday.
Dr Sunil Sachdeva, a dentist who runs a clinic inside the mall, described the scene as the attack unfolded.
"There was a tent where a cookery competition for children was carrying on and there were bodies lying under there," Dr Sachdeva said.
"There's a very famous radio presenter in Kenya, she was shot. The scene was carnage and there was a guy lying right in the corner. He was cut to shreds."
- Ruhila Adatia-Sood, Kenyan radio host
- Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor, 78
- President Uhuru Kenyatta's nephew, Mbugua Mwangi and fiancee Rosemary Wahito
- Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges, 29
- Two French nationals
- One Australian
- Three Britons
- One Chinese woman
- A second Canadian national
- One Dutch woman, 33
- One South African national
- Two Indian nationals
Prominent Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor - who was attending a literary festival in Nairobi - also died, as did a Chinese woman.
French, Dutch, South African, Indian and Canadian nationals are also among the foreigners confirmed killed, along with a dual Australian-British national.
Thousands of Kenyans have been responding to appeals for blood donations.
Al-Shabab says it carried out the attack in response to Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
The group, which is part of the al-Qaeda network, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.
There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011.
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