At least 59 people have been killed and over 150 wounded in the largest terrorist attack in Kenya since al Qaeda’s 1998 bombing of the US Embassy. The Shabaab assault teams singled out non-Muslims for execution. The attack is similar to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s assault on Mumbai in 2008.
The al Qaeda and Shabaab affiliate said its ultimate goal is to raise “the flag of Tawheed high over Kenya and East Africa.”
Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot and killed as he was driving in Mombasa. The US added Rogo to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on July 5 for his direct support for Shabaab.
The Muslim Youth Center, Shabaab’s affiliate in Kenya, has vowed to wage jihad in Kenya.
The letter from al Qaeda’s emir to Shabaab leader Sheikh Muhktar Abu Zubayr confirms an August 2010 report from LWJ that detailed al Qaeda’s instructions to downplay links between the two terror groups.
The Muslim Youth Center, Shabaab’s affiliate in Kenya, said that the groups would fight “under the banner of AQEA (al Qaeda East Africa).” AQEA has long reported to al Qaeda’s most senior leadership.