Soldiers Fired for Looting During Mall Siege.

Two Kenyan soldiers have been fired and arrested for stealing cell phones and other items during last month's deadly mall siege in Nairobi.

General Julius Karangi announced the dismissals on Tuesday. He said a third soldier was under investigation.

Earlier, the Kenyan military said soldiers only took water from the Westgate shopping center as they battled Islamist militants.

Security camera footage showed several soldiers taking things from various counters, however, and walking away carrying plastic shopping bags.

Also, shopkeepers complained about missing items when they returned to the mall after the siege.

In addition to cell phones, Karangi said cameras and chargers were among stolen items.

The four-day siege left at least 67 people dead, not including the attackers.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the raid, saying it was retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.

Kenya sent troops to Somalia two years ago to help battle al-Shabab, which has been fighting to turn Somalia into a strict Islamist state.

Traders return to the Nairobi shopping centre to find jewellery and mobile phones missing and cash tills plundered.

Shop owners at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi have been returning to their stores after last week's terrorist attack to find displays ransacked and valuables stolen.

They say jewellery and mobile phones have been taken, cash tills plundered and restaurants emptied of alcohol.

Shopkeepers believe troops sent in to protect the complex are to blame, although they admit they have no proof.

One witness told the Associated Press he saw a Kenyan soldier take cigarettes out of a dead man's pocket.

Owners spent Monday removing merchandise and other valuables from their stores and restaurants to prevent any more thefts.

Soon after the attack began on September 21, officials put a cordon around the mall, allowing only security forces and a few government personnel to pass through.

One business owner said money and mobile phones were taken from bags and purses left behind in the mayhem.

Employees of a book shop on the second floor returned to find cash registers yanked open and cash gone.

The store's laptops were also stolen, although none of the books were touched, said owner Paku Tsavani.

It is the second time in two months that Kenyan security forces have been accused of robbery after an emergency.

There were also reports of looting during a huge fire at Nairobi's main airport in August.

Acknowledging the Westgate thefts, Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku promised: "Those responsible for looting will be prosecuted."

Meanwhile, Kenyan intelligence officials are to be questioned by the country's MPs about whether they had advance warning of the attack.

Almost no details have been released about what happened immediately after the terrorists moved in.

Mr Lenku has declined to give any information about them, saying: "We do not discuss intelligence matters in public."

Nine suspects are now in custody following the assault, which is thought to have been carried out by the Islamist Somali group al Shabaab.

Kenyan police assisted by US, Israeli and European experts are still examining the shopping centre, which was extensively damaged.

The Red Cross says 39 people are still missing, although the government insists everyone is accounted for.

At least 50 Kenyans were killed in the raid, along with six Britons and citizens of France, China, Ghana, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Peru and the Netherlands.

A candlelit vigil was held for the dead at a makeshift memorial near the mall just before sunset on Sunday.

The attack, which al Shabaab claims was in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia, ended after a four-day siege by security forces.