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Supporters of al-Qaeda have reportedly been celebrating after the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab claimed to be behind the attack on the hotel complex in Nairobi.

A number of posts on the messaging service Telegram praised the attack while condemning Kenya's military presence in Somalia, BBC Monitoring reports.

Kenya is involved in a regional peacekeeping operation that supports the Somali government in its battle against Islamist militants.

• Police say the attack began at about 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT)
• Gunshots and explosions have been reported around the site of five-star DusitD2 hotel
• Photographs and reports suggest several people have been killed, but numbers are unknown
• Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab say they're behind the attack - but have offered no details
• Operations to secure the site are ongoing

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent, Nairobi

Today Kenya has been reminded of how determined al-Shabab militants are to strike even in the heart of the capital city, Nairobi.

Most recent al-Shabab attacks have been near the country’s border with Somalia, where the group is based.

In Kenya, every major building has some form of security check - metal detectors, car checks and even bomb detectors - at the entrance.

This also existed five years ago when al-Shabab attacked the Westgate Shopping Mall.

Yet, even today these measures proved to be no barrier to the assailants. There is only so much building owners can do.

Facebook has set up a way for people in Nairobi to mark themselves safe, external and offer help to anyone caught up in the attack:

Image source, Facebook

Facebook says it uses the service to enable people "to support each other in a crisis".

Some of our readers have been getting in touch to share their what they have seen at the site of the attack in Nairobi.

Bile Beshir Mehbub said:

Cillian Browne, who is an Irish national on holiday in Nairobi, earlier described the situation as hectic and scary:

Are you in the area? If it is safe to do so please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, external

Joe Inwood
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, EPA

Every person escaping the Dusit complex has the same story.

A group of heavily armed men firing indiscriminately, using bombs and AK47s to kill.

Many had seen terrible things. Most were too shaken to talk. They were all relieved to have escaped.

They were coming out in small groups, many hours after the first explosions.

The blasts occurred just after 15:00 (12:00 GMT), and could be heard across the city.

I was in my apartment around the corner when they happened, followed by the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

The pictures that have been coming from inside are truly horrific. Ordinary people going about their business, killed as they had lunch or did their jobs.

This has a personal feel too.

The Secret Garden, the restaurant that seems to have taken the brunt of the explosions, is a place I know well.

It was full of lovely staff, ordinary Kenyans who would always greet you with a smile.

As I sit watching the survivors escape, I wonder how many of them didn’t make it.

A suicide bomber was among those who attacked the DusitD2 hotel in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, police boss Joseph Boinnet has told journalists.

He said the "co-ordinated" attack started at 15:00 (12:00 GMT) targeting a bank and three vehicles in the car park.

He said the security operation is ongoing and that six of the seven floors in the hotel and office complex had been secured.

He said that the aim was to rescue those trapped and "neutralise" the attackers.

Some of the survivors of Tuesday's attack have spoken to the BBC about the ordeal and what they saw.

A woman who works in a building on the site said she was simply happy to be alive:

A man who saw the attackers said:

Police have cordoned off the area and buildings, like this one, are being evacuated as security forces try to secure the site:

Image source, AFP

The editor of BBC Africa Business, Larry Madowo, says people are still inside some of the buildings on the attacked complex in Nairobi's Westlands district.

He says a friend sent him a text message a short while ago to say that his phone battery was running out of charge and he still has not been rescued.

Watch Larry speaking to BBC World TV about the ongoing rescue efforts:

Pictures that we have seen from inside what appears to be a hotel restaurant inside the complex that was attacked show three dead bodies.

The AFP news agency is quoting one of its photographers as saying that at least five people have been killed.

It's 20:00 (17:00 GMT) in Kenya and security operations are still ongoing in the Westlands area of the capital where gunmen attacked a hotel and office complex.

Local media say one person has been confirmed dead and four others injured. Several people are being treated at different hospitals.

A journalist covering the story has tweeted from a distance where emergency services vehicles have lined up.

A tweet from the presidency has appealed to Kenyans not share pictures from the attack.

A resident of an apartment building a couple of blocks away from the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi has told the BBC that she, and others who live there, had been advised to "run, hide, fight" by the private security firm who monitor the premises.

But the official advice from Kenyan police following today's attack is that people should remain calm.

In such circumstances it is usually not advised to try to fight attackers.

German business software group SAP says its staff have been safely evacuated from their offices which are located on the compound that was attacked today, news agency Reuters reports quoting a spokeswoman.

"The [security team] on the ground were very efficient and extracted all the employees that were in the building at the time to safety," she added.

Gunmen entered the hotel and office complex in the capital and started firing, witnesses say.

Police boss Joseph Boinnet told a pres briefing that they are dealing with a "suspected terror attack".

At least one person has been confirmed dead and four others injured in an attack on Tuesday at an upscale hotel and office complex on 14 Riverside Drive in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Toseef Din, the Chief Operating Officer at M. P. Shah Hospital, told Citizen TV that the person who died was among five people brought to the hospital.

Kenyan police say today's events at the luxury DusitD hotel complex in Nairobi is being as a "suspected terror attack".

The Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

BBC Africa Security Correspondent Tomi Oladipo has been at the scene:

Armed security officers from the US and UK are at the DusitD2 hotel to respond to today's attack, the BBC's Tomi Oladipo reports.

Three hospitals in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have made an appeal for blood.

Officials are yet to release the number of those injured or killed in the attack at DusitD2 hotel in Riverside, Westlands.

People injured in the attack in Nairobi have been taken to several local hospitals, Kenyan media report.

The Kenya Red Cross, which has a team at the scene of the attack, has shared a phone number for anyone seeking information about the people caught up in the attack:

The attack in the five-star DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi is still ongoing.

• The attack began at about 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT).
• Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinnet told reporters: "Armed criminals are holding up in the hotel and specialist forces are currently flushing them out."
• He said there were injuries, but did not give a figure.
• Explosions were heard and a plume of smoke rose above the compound, with vehicles on fire in the car park.
• Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it is behind the attack.