KENYA IS IN MOURNING AFTER ISLAMIST MILITANTS ATTACKED A NAIROBI SHOPPING MALL ON SEPTEMBER
21ST.
DOZENS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE ASSAULT, WITH SOMALI
MILITANT GROUP AL-SHABAB CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY.
AND WE'RE JOINED NOW BY VOA SOMALI SERVICE EDITOR DAUD AWEIS WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS
STORY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
WE KNOW AL- SHABAB IS A SOMALI
GROUP, BUT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THEIR MOTIVES FOR THIS ATTACK?
ACCORDING TO AL SHABAB'S MESSAGE IN THE TWITTER AND ALSO IN SOME OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE THE
SOMALI WEBSITE THEY SAY THAT THIS ATTACK WAS RETALIATION AGAINST WHAT
THEY CALL KENYA'S INVASION INTO SOMALI TERRITORY.
WE KNOW THAT KENYAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA IN 2011 TO HELP THE SOMALI GOVERNMENT AND
TO FLUSH OUT AL-SHABAB FROM
SOME REGIONS IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA.
BUT AFTER KENYAN FORCES TOOK THE PORT CITY OF KISMAYO IN 2012, THERE WERE SOME THREATS
FROM AL SHABAB SAYING THAT THEY WILL
RETALIATE BY INVADING AND ALSO BY ATTACKING SOME KEY INSTALLATIONS IN KENYA AND THIS IS
LIKE WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT, THEIR THREAT IS LIKE THEY ARE NOW
FULFILLING WHAT THEY SAID BEFORE, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RETALIATE AGAINST THE KENYAN
FORCES PRESENCE IN SOMALIA.
AND TELL US ABOUT THIS MALL THAT WAS ATTACKED.
THIS I CAN SAY IS THE BIGGEST MALL IN THE REGION.
IT'S A MALL WHERE THE DIPLOMATS AND THE WEALTHY PEOPLE IN KENYA GO.
MANY DIPLOMATS, WESTERN COUNTRIES'
DIPLOMATS, AFRICAN DIPLOMATS AND THE KENYAN PEOPLE THEMSELVES GO THERE.
AND DURING THE WEEKENDS IS WHEN THEY ARE FULL OF PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS.
YOU CAN FIND
SOME RESTAURANTS, SOME CINEMAS AND SOME OTHER BIG SHOPS INSIDE.
THAT'S WHY PEOPLE LIKE TO SHOP, NOT ONLY PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN KENYA, EVEN PEOPLE FROM THE REST
OF
THE REGION, EVEN PEOPLE FROM THE NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES, LIKE TANZANIA, UGANDA, ALSO WHEN
THEY ARE VISITING NAIROBI, THEY HAVE TO GO THERE TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.
THEY ARE TO GO TO CINEMA, TO BUY SOME THINGS, LIKE GIFTS AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS.
WELL WHAT IS AL SHABAB, AND WHAT ARE ITS TIES TO AL QAIDA?
AL SHABAB IS A SOMALI MILITANT GROUP, IT EMERGED DURING THE SOMALI ISLAMIST COURTS ERA IN 2006.
IT WAS THE YOUTH GROUP OF THE ISLAMIC COURTS, AND LATER ON THEY
WERE FIGHTING WITH THE ETHOPIAN FORCES WHEN THE ETHIOPIAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA TO FIGHT
AGAINST THE ISLAMIC COURTS UNION, AND AL SHABAB WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN
EXTREMIST GROUP BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.
FROM THAT TIME THEY WERE FIGHTING AGAINST THE SOMALI GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE FIGHTING
AGAINST THE AFRICAN UNION
FORCES, AND AFTER THE KENYAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA IN 2011 THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD
ALSO CARRY ATTACKS AGAINST THE KENYAN FORCES BECAUSE OF THEIR PRESENCE IN
SOMALIA.
NOW YOU TALK ABOUT PROMISES OF THESE KINDS OF ATTACKS THAT WERE MADE BEFORE BY AL SHABAB.
ARE THERE CONCERNS THAT ANOTHER ATTACK LIKE THIS ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS
WILL HAPPEN AGAIN?
I THINK IF PREVENTION MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN, BY THE KENYAN FORCES, SOME KIND OF THIS ATTACK
MAY HAPPEN AGAIN, BECAUSE THE AL SHABAB IS ALSO SAYING THAT THEY WILL
CONTINUE ATTACKING KENYAN TARGETS UNLESS THE KENYAN FORCES DECIDE TO WITHDRAW THEIR FORCES
FROM KISMAYO IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA.
ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
DAUD AWEIS, EDITOR OF THE VOA SOMALI SERVICE.