Dozens Die in Nairobi Terrorist Attack

Almost seventy people have died and a further two hundred injured during an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall on Saturday. Kenyan soldiers have since been deployed to the mall as an estimated 39 civilians are currently being held hostage by Somali militants.

An affluent shopping mall, the Westgate centre has over 80 shops including Barclays and Samsung, and had been hosting a 'children's day' when Somali militants launched the attack. Approximately 1,000 people managed to escape as the militants entered the building, and have given the media chilling details of what they witnessed. As the militants entered the building around midday, witnesses reported hearing explosions

Inside the Westgate shopping mall

outside the building quickly followed by gunfire. One witness told reporters "I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead... I don't understand why you would shoot a five year old" Whilst many ran through the mall trying to escape the chaos, others managed to save themselves by playing dead. One of the most shocking details to emerge is that women were involved in the slaughter of innocent children as well as men.

The group claiming responsibility for the worst attack on Kenyan soil in over a decade is the al-Qaeda Somalian cell, al-Shabaab. Translated, the organisation's name means 'The Youth' or 'The Boys' is a splinter group formed in 2006 from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a collection of Sharia law courts that merged together to form an opposition to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. The ICU broke up in 2006 after losing territory and power to the TFG, however some hardline groups splintered off and one such group became al-Shabaab. The militant group has been rife with internal problems including internal coups and defections and a result of their lack of direction meant that Somali troops, along with the UN approved peace keeping mission the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), were able to reclaim land from the insurgents.This weekend's attack has apparently been in retaliation to the Kenyan military's support of the Somalian army as the group wrote on social networking site, Twitter, "The attacks are just retribution for the lives of innocent Muslims shelled by Kenyan jets" another post called the attacks retaliation against the "Kenyan invaders." However this seems the flimsy excuse of a group desperately trying to regain status and power after losing a lot of influence and supporters in a short space of time.

Map of East Africa showing Somalian/Kenyan border

The attack on the capital has hit the Kenyan president on a very personal level as his nephew and nephew's fiancée are reported to have been killed in the attack and in a press conference, he told the world's media "They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts. We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully." Having been personally aggrieved at the insurgent's hands, it's safe to say the President will not stop until the 15-20 or so militants holding innocent civilians hostage tonight, are brought to trial and punished accordingly.

 Apart from an attack on a personal level for himself, the victims and victim's families, the President also needs to show a hardline stance against any al-Qaeda affiliates. Kenya has the strongest economy in Eastern Africa with tourism accounting for the majority of it's GDP, by showing strength and defiance against the extremists, Kenya will ensure their economy maintains its strength. Showing strength and resilience against terrorism will be the greatest insult to the insurgents and the greatest way to honour the victims of Westgate.

Lora

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