Terror in Nairobi and Al-Qaeda Affiliate al-Shabaab
By Julian HaydaTerror in Nairobi and Al-Qaeda Affiliate al-Shabaab
By Julian HaydaSomali Islamist organization al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, claimed responsibility for the killing of at least 21 people at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday. Among the confirmed dead are one American 9/11 survivor, one Briton and 16 Kenyans. With the five attackers now dead, killed by Kenyan security forces, analysts have turned to comparing Tuesday’s attack to a similar attack in 2013, when 67 people were killed at the Westgate mall in Nairobi. Though security has improved since the 2013 incident, during which police and soldiers shot at one another, safety measures appear to have fallen short this week. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to track down all those involved in the “funding, planning and execution” of Tuesday’s events. Meanwhile, al-Shabaab has vowed retribution ever since Kenyan forces entered Somalia to combat the terrorist group in 2011, and fear of future attacks on Kenyan soil remains. To discuss, Professor Ahmed Samatar of Macalester College joins us. Professor Samatar is the founding dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College.