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内罗毕大屠杀之外

Sep 28, 2013 Michael Meyer

内罗毕—为期四天的内罗毕韦斯特盖特（Westgate）购物中心攻坚战结束了，整个肯尼亚都为此大舒一口气。但从很多方面看，大屠杀的后事与事件本身一样引人注目。

局面之复杂让调查者大吃一惊。袭击者——索马里伊斯兰极端组织青年军（al-Shabaab）花了数周时间踩点。他们请出每一个出口和安全站，他们似乎还租了一个店面用来预先放好枪支、炸药和重型武器。他们对社交媒体的使用也可以成为数字营销的经典案例。

袭击者提出了明确的要求：肯尼亚必须把两年前部署在索马里的军队（作为将青年军赶出索马里的国际行动的一部分）撤出索马里，把索马里还给政府，恢复正常生活的表象。他们说，此次袭击主要是作为对肯尼亚政府的警告：改变政策，否则后果自负。袭击者还做足了戏告诉全世界，他们采取了特别措施，在整个事件中保证穆斯林安然无恙。

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Digvijoy Sodhi Nov 8, 2013

The barbaric savagery shown in the attack at the popular Westgate mall in Nairobi by the al-Shabab group (terrorist outfit associated to the al-Qaeda) is a despicable act of cowardice. There cannot be any compromise or dialogue with a terrorist group. The stand taken by the Kenyan president to not withdraw the country’s forces from Somalia is commendable in the wake of the recent attack and the subsequent threat of more such attacks in the future. If Kenya was to call back it’s forces presently deployed on the Somali soil, one can inevitably foresee the country falling back into the hands of the terrorist group and whatever ground has been liberated would be lost too. Kenya and the African continent has much to lose in bowing down to the terrorist elements as there is no guarantee that their activities would be restricted to the Somali borders. The rise of Islamic extremism is evident in the African continent and it’s spill over (Libya, Mali, Syria, Sudan, etc.) cannot be contained without taking the fight to the stronghold. The basis for the Kenyan intervention in the Somali conflict was the spill over of the al-Shabab’s terror activities on it’s border shared with Somalia and the hinterland. Popular tourist destinations had come under threat and foreign tourists were kidnapped for ransom and many times subsequently killed even after the ransom was paid. There is nothing stopping al-Shabab from spreading it’s tactics employed in the Indian Ocean on the nearby land too. One can only imagine the gruesome reality many of the Somali people live in today. This is a desperate attempt on the part of the al-Shabab at intimidating the Kenyan government to withdraw it’s forces. Ground reality lays bare the fact that it has lost much ground to the allied forces (comprising of forces from countries other than Kenya) and has made a last ditch attempt at not losing it’s stronghold too. It is a fact that no country goes to war unless it has something at stake. The Kenyan forces have gone to war with the al-Shabab under the threat of the instability and terrorism spilling over from it’s neighboring country. But, whatever be the reason, one can only imagine the oppression the Somali people have been subjected to. With famines being an accepted date on the calendar that comes every now and then, their helplessness subjects them to be victimized by the terrorist group and subsequently support it’s operations lest they be destined to the fate of dying from hunger if not bullets and lashes. One can only fight if they have food in their stomach. The Kenyan and other allied forces must battle on and further fragment the group till the terrorist group is wiped off from the map.
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内罗毕大屠杀之外

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