Kenya announced on Saturday it is “at war” with al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant group responsible for attacking the Westgate mall last week.
The comments came after the government was faced with questions about whether it received intelligence warning of the deadly strike before it happened.
The raid lasted four days and resulted in the deaths of 67 civilians. Reuters reports that the attack was claimed by the Somali militant group , which the government has been fighting in Somalia.
Three Kenyan newspapers also reports on Saturday that the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned a year ago that al-Shabaab militants were in Kenya. The papers questioned if the government knew the attack could have happened, but that they failed to prepare for the possibility.
The papers added that the intelligence suggested militants were planning on carrying out “suicide attacks” on the Westgate mall, as well as on a church in the city. The Huffington Post notes that Mutea Iringo, principal secretary in the Ministry Interior, announced Kenya’s war against al-Shabaab.
Iringo explained, “Every day, we get intelligence and action is taking as per that intelligence and many attacks averted.” He added, “What we are saying is that we are at war, and that every day some young Kenyan is being radicalized by al Shabaab to kill Kenyans.”
The newspaper reports were published ahead of a meeting on Monday of the Kenyan parliament’s defense and foreign relations committee. The committee is expected to ask security chiefs how much warning they had of the mall attack. Al-Shabaab told the world that it acted in revenge against Kenyan troops, who are fighting in neighboring Somalia.
Five of the mall attackers were killed and Kenyan authorities arrested eight people in the raid. The Islamist militant group already announced its war against Kenya, adding that it warned the government of attacks on its soil if the military continued its work in Somalia. Officials are still gathering evidence at the mall where the attack took place.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons ]
