KENYANS are slowly coming to terms with the harrowing four-day siege that started last Saturday and finished on Tuesday at the upscale shopping mall, Westgate, in the affluent west end of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Officials say at least 67 people have been killed and more than 170 wounded. The figures are expected to rise once the debris of the part-collapsed mall is finally cleared.
Sixty-one people are currently still missing according to Kenya Red Cross.
Some of the areas al-Shabab lost during the Kenyan campaign were lucrative farming and fishing regions.
With the loss of such territory came a strain on the group’s finances.
Last September, after a year of fighting al-Shabab in Somalia, Kenyan forces succeeded in pushing the group out of the key port city of Kismayu.
Before they were driven out, al-Shabab had controlled Somalia’s third-biggest city for more than four years. It was the group’s main base of operations and its loss was a big hit.
“Al-Shabab has lost Kismayu port, which was their lifeline. They are in survival mode,” said Hussein Arab Isse, Somalia’s former deputy prime minister and defence minister.
“Shopping malls are easy targets and Westgate is the biggest mall in Kenya. It is possible they targeted the mall as a response to the loss of Kismayu,” he added.
Even before they went into Somalia, Kenya openly backed militia leader Sheikh Ahmed Madobe in his bid to oust al-Shabab from the Jubba region of Somalia.
Madobe was a senior al-Shabab figure before he fell out with the group and took up arms against his former brothers-in-arms.
Once al-Shabab was vanquished, the Kenya government backed Madobe as its chosen leader for the taken over areas.
It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow for the Islamist fighters, seeing their former ally rewarded for turning his back on them.
“Worst possible choice of leader. Backing Ahmed Madobe only gave al-Shabab more reasons to fight the Kenyans,” said Boru.
Kenya is also the only country in Amisom – a combined force of more than 17000 soldiers – to have deployed its air force and navy against the Islamist militia, a move al-Shabab says resulted in civilian deaths.
“They bombed our civilians in refugee camps. They bombed innocent Somalis in Gedo. Ask them why they continue killing our people first,” said Abu Muscab, when Al Jazeera asked about the civilian carnage in the Westgate mall attack.
In 2011, after suffering a spate of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil, Kenya’s then-internal security minister George Saitoti accused the Islamist group of being behind the abductions.
Last year, Aboud Rogo, a Muslim cleric and a vocal supporter of the Islamist group, was killed in Mombasa in a drive-by shooting. Rogo was on a UN and US sanctions list for allegedly recruiting fighters and obtaining funds for al-Shabab.
Nine months later, another cleric Ahmed Khalid – a close friend of Rogo and a staunch supporter of al-Shabab – was killed in a police shoot-out, according to Kenyan authorities.
“It is widely thought they were killed for their support for al-Shabab.
“Many people think those killings were extrajudicial killings,” said the security analyst Boru.
After the killings, al-Shabab’s stance against Kenya became even more hardline.
“We don’t believe Kenya is a good neighbour.
“We don’t trust them. They are the enemy,” said the spokesman Abu Muscab.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta – whose nephew was killed in the mall attack – has said his government will not be dissuaded by the assault.
“I want to be very clear and categorical: we shall not relent on the war on terror. We will continue that fight,” Kenyatta said.
Al-Shabab, meanwhile, has called on Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia, or face more attacks on Kenyan soil.
“Take your troops out or prepare for a long-lasting war, blood, destruction and evacuation,” said Ahmed Godane, al-Shabab leader in an audio message the group released on Wednesday.
Hussein, who was Somalia’s defence minister at the height of al-Shabab’s rule in south and central Somalia, said he thinks a resolution will not be achieved through military force alone.
“To find a solution to al-Shabab, there needs to be a negotiation,” Hussein said.
Achieving security in the Horn of Africa is also up to the Somali people themselves, he added.
“Somalis are the only ones who can find a solution to this problem, and it won’t be just from the military.”
- Mohamed is a London-based British-Somali journalist and an al-Shabab expert
l-Shabab has targeted Kenya to strike back
Officials say at least 67 people have been killed and more than 170 wounded. The figures are expected to rise once the debris of the part-collapsed mall is finally cleared.
Sixty-one people are currently still missing according to Kenya Red Cross.
Some of the areas al-Shabab lost during the Kenyan campaign were lucrative farming and fishing regions.
With the loss of such territory came a strain on the group’s finances.
Last September, after a year of fighting al-Shabab in Somalia, Kenyan forces succeeded in pushing the group out of the key port city of Kismayu.
Before they were driven out, al-Shabab had controlled Somalia’s third-biggest city for more than four years. It was the group’s main base of operations and its loss was a big hit.
“Al-Shabab has lost Kismayu port, which was their lifeline. They are in survival mode,” said Hussein Arab Isse, Somalia’s former deputy prime minister and defence minister.
“Shopping malls are easy targets and Westgate is the biggest mall in Kenya. It is possible they targeted the mall as a response to the loss of Kismayu,” he added.
Even before they went into Somalia, Kenya openly backed militia leader Sheikh Ahmed Madobe in his bid to oust al-Shabab from the Jubba region of Somalia.
Madobe was a senior al-Shabab figure before he fell out with the group and took up arms against his former brothers-in-arms.
Once al-Shabab was vanquished, the Kenya government backed Madobe as its chosen leader for the taken over areas.
It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow for the Islamist fighters, seeing their former ally rewarded for turning his back on them.
“Worst possible choice of leader. Backing Ahmed Madobe only gave al-Shabab more reasons to fight the Kenyans,” said Boru.
Kenya is also the only country in Amisom – a combined force of more than 17000 soldiers – to have deployed its air force and navy against the Islamist militia, a move al-Shabab says resulted in civilian deaths.
“They bombed our civilians in refugee camps. They bombed innocent Somalis in Gedo. Ask them why they continue killing our people first,” said Abu Muscab, when Al Jazeera asked about the civilian carnage in the Westgate mall attack.
In 2011, after suffering a spate of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil, Kenya’s then-internal security minister George Saitoti accused the Islamist group of being behind the abductions.
Last year, Aboud Rogo, a Muslim cleric and a vocal supporter of the Islamist group, was killed in Mombasa in a drive-by shooting. Rogo was on a UN and US sanctions list for allegedly recruiting fighters and obtaining funds for al-Shabab.
Nine months later, another cleric Ahmed Khalid – a close friend of Rogo and a staunch supporter of al-Shabab – was killed in a police shoot-out, according to Kenyan authorities.
“It is widely thought they were killed for their support for al-Shabab.
“Many people think those killings were extrajudicial killings,” said the security analyst Boru.
After the killings, al-Shabab’s stance against Kenya became even more hardline.
“We don’t believe Kenya is a good neighbour.
“We don’t trust them. They are the enemy,” said the spokesman Abu Muscab.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta – whose nephew was killed in the mall attack – has said his government will not be dissuaded by the assault.
“I want to be very clear and categorical: we shall not relent on the war on terror. We will continue that fight,” Kenyatta said.
Al-Shabab, meanwhile, has called on Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia, or face more attacks on Kenyan soil.
“Take your troops out or prepare for a long-lasting war, blood, destruction and evacuation,” said Ahmed Godane, al-Shabab leader in an audio message the group released on Wednesday.
Hussein, who was Somalia’s defence minister at the height of al-Shabab’s rule in south and central Somalia, said he thinks a resolution will not be achieved through military force alone.
“To find a solution to al-Shabab, there needs to be a negotiation,” Hussein said.
Achieving security in the Horn of Africa is also up to the Somali people themselves, he added.
“Somalis are the only ones who can find a solution to this problem, and it won’t be just from the military.”
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