Major terror attack in Kenya kills at least 15 people.

Burning cars at the site of the terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters. 

A major terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya has killed 15 people and has been claimed by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Reuters. The attack occurred at an upscale district and involved gunmen and explosions. In addition to the 11 Kenyans killed in the attack, one American one Spaniard and one Brit were killed as well with two more victims lacking ID. It is unclear what happened to the attackers at this time but the scene has been secured. At least one of the attackers was a suicide bomber. The causality numbers from the attack are expected to rise. 

My Comment:

Info on this attack is confused and still coming in. It is possible that the attackers could still be at large and may carry out more attacks or be confronted by police/soldiers. And with so many wounded it's very possible that the death toll could get higher. 

The attack was a fairly sophisticated and complex. It involved multiple styles of terrorism including suicide bombing and gunmen. This kind of attack isn't something you can just plan in a day. It takes a long time to gather the weapons and supplies and train the attackers for something like this. This was a well planned, well executed attack. 

The target was significant as well. The hotel and office complex attacked by al-Shabaab was an upscale one and one that has a lot of foreign nationals there. Those are prime targets for al-Shabaab because they not only hate westerners and their culture but they also want to target people who support the war against them in Somalia. Two birds with one stone as far as they are concerned. 

I am guessing there will likely be an US response to this attack. We have often launched drone strikes against al-Shabaab and I would not be surprised if the Pentagon is looking into options to target any al-Shabaab bases that they know about. Kenya is an ally and at least one of our citizens died in this attack, there will be a response. 

Al-Shabaab is one of the more active terror groups right now. There aren't a threat outside of Africa but compared to other terror groups they have pulled off some very serious and now very recent attacks. They have been put under major pressure from the local governments and US airstrikes but they are still able to launch attacks. 

Thankfully, there hasn't been too many terror attacks lately. With the destruction of ISIS and core al-Qaeda largely being irrelevant the rate of terror attacks has plummeted. There are less international threats and most Islamic terror groups still in existence and regional threats like al-Shabaab.