Expressing “total solidarity with the people, the Government, and the President of Kenya”, Mr. Guterres condemned “the horrible terrorist act,” during a meeting at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

In a statement later in the day, UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said “the Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes those injured a swift recovery,”  noting that the UN chief “is following developments in the Kenyan capital closely.

General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés also expressed her “most sincere condolences to the government and people of Kenya”.

“I stand in solidarity especially with the victims of these acts of violence and with their families,” she added, strongly condemning “these unexplainable acts of extreme violence.”

According to news reports, the attack took place in a Nairobi luxury hotel complex, the DusitD2, in the Westlands neighborhood, where several armed assailants are reported to have opened fire and blasted their way into the compound. The reports state that the attack was claimed by the group Al-Shabab, an Islamist extremist group with ties to Al Qaeda, which has carried out many attacks across Africa in the past decade.