By Emb Hashmi
The ruthless and unsubstantiated murders in the popular Nairobi shopping centre in Kenya was said to be in the name of religion. The murderers where said to have forced helpless shoppers to recite words of the Qur’an and if they made a mistake they were shot dead.
It is reported that Islamist fighters killed at least 62 people, this outburst is said not just to have made international headlines for the wrong reason but will quite possibly have a knock on affect on the Kenyan economy which was seeing signs of a boom with the rise of tourists and investment.
At the height of the mascara Kenya’s Ministry of Interior had posted on twitter “Our forces are combing the mall floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. We believe all hostages have been released,” The siege had lasted over three days however the army had full confidence that they will over power the militants.
The horrific situation had become an international matter when Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s foreign minister, told PBS television in the US that American and British citizens were among the attackers. The US state department said it was investigating the claim.
The 60-hour long assault on innocent lives resembled scenes from India during the 2008 Mumbai attacks when terrorists targeted foreigners. The siege is said to be the worst in Kenya in 15 years. At least 62 people have been killed, including several foreigners.
The Kenyan government blocked the terrorists’ access to internet, depriving them of a propaganda coup by posting the images of the assault inside the mall.
Al-Shabaab, the Somali-based group have claimed responsibility for the attack, “The Mujahideen will kill the hostages if the enemies use force,” an al-Shabaab spokesman based in Somalia said in a statement posted on an Islamic website.
The attack is said to come as a form of retaliation from Al-Shabaab, after Kenya sent troops into neighbouring Somalia two years ago to push back members of al-Shabaab, who promised retaliation on home soil. Kenya is also home to several fundamentalist groups that have developed plots to attack Nairobi shopping malls during the past two years, say intelligence experts familiar with the groups. Kenyan organisations have also recruited fighters for al-Shabaab in Somalia.
Kenyan officials have said they arrested at least 10 people in relation to the attacks in the Nairobi shopping centre and at the same time they have suggested to much wider global involvement in the attack. General Julius Karangi, head of the Kenyan military, said the authorities believed the terrorists were “clearly a multinational collection from all over the world”.
The attack in Kenya was said to be in the name of Islam from the terrorists, as are many other similar attacks in the world, however world leaders such as the British Prime Minister where quick to point out that this is not an attack by good Muslim people, and has nothing to do with religion, such statements come as great relief to the millions of Muslims around the world who fear retaliation for doing nothing wrong but being Muslim.
Famous and outspoken Brit-Asian singer A G Dollar has spoken out about the attack and posted the following statement on his FaceBook “Before we start blaming Muslims for the tragedy in Nairobi I want to make a few things clear…
1.Kenya recently found Oil, Natural Gas and Water and a lot of it.
2. Kenya signed a deal for 5 billion $ with china for a new railway( rejected UK, USA)
3. Obama omitted to visit his birthplace in Kenya due to Tensions re: our new president facing charges at the Hague
4. America has been known to fund terrorist organisations such as Al Qaida
5. America/Britain/France has hand their hands in overthrowing governments in Iraq Egypt, Libya (the list goes on!!) and privatizing their Oil companies and Hospitals (restructuring the country’s infrastructure to suit their needs)
6. Once the country has been taken over the place their armies there and has Intel operations within the country.
7. Could Al Shabab do this by themselves?
When a country refuses to let USA or UK take over usually a terrorist plot takes place. More Fear= Less foreign investment a massive cut in Tourism (Our main Source of Income)
The full investigation into how such a controversy was allowed to take place and the motives behind the mindless killings will be long and involve international communities.
