Nairobi attack shows Al Shabab still powerful

Shortly after gunmen attacked an upmarket Nairobi hotel on Tuesday afternoon, the Site intelligence group picked up a claim of responsibility from Al Shabab.

In the ensuing hours, the east African militants, whose name means “The Youth” – short for the Mujahideen Youth Movement – issued updates on the attack.

They called the location “one of the most opulent areas of the Kenyan capital where offices of international representatives are present”.

The attack, in which 14 people were killed, shows that Al Shabab remains powerful, despite counter-terrorism efforts by the US and Horn of Africa nations.

Al Shabab, which is based in Somalia but has carried out attacks in neighbouring Kenya, remains Al Qaeda’s most active affiliate, says Rita Katz, the director of Site.

The group consistently claims the largest number of attacks and suicide operations, maintains a large area of territory and is focused on expanding into neighbouring countries, she tweeted on Tuesday.

The group was founded as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, a group of hardline Sharia courts in southern Somalia that controlled Mogadishu in 2006 and challenged the Transitional Federal Parliament for control of the country.

After Ethiopian forces drove the ICU from the Somali capital in late 2006, Al Shabab continued fighting the UN-backed Federal Parliament.

The group gained notoriety for gruesome suicide attacks while advocating a severe doctrine under which women accused of adultery were stoned to death and the hands of thieves were amputated.

While initially receiving support from sectors of the Somali public fed up with two decades of insecurity, these acts repelled many.

Al Shabab were driven from the Somali capital by African Union troops in 2011 and out of the port city of Kismayo the next year.

A 2012 video showed Al Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane pledging allegiance to Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri. Al Shabab debated joining ISIS in 2014 but eventually only a small splinter faction pledged its loyalty to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Since Godane was killed in a US drone strike in the same year, Al Shabab has been led by Ahmad Umar, who is believed to command between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

The group raises funds through a highly developed system of extortion that rivals the Somali government’s tax system.