Al-Shabaab Terrorists in Kenya Attack Seen as U.S. Threat

Bloomberg News

Al-Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group behind a four-day attack on a Nairobi shopping mall, threatens U.S. embassies and interests in Africa and potentially on U.S. soil as well, counterterrorism analysts told Congress.

The Westgate Mall attack last month showed al-Shabaab’s growing capacity to conduct sophisticated operations requiring careful planning and reconnaissance, Seth Jones, associate director for international security and defense policy at Rand Corp., told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

That ability, coupled with the group’s use of online social media and “Jihad rap” recruitment videos on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s YouTube.com to attract young Americans, is a concern, Jones said at a panel hearing yesterday.

“Al-Shabaab has the capacity to strike outside Somalia,” he said. “They have an interest in targeting the United States, and three, they’ve been recruiting inside America. You put all those together and, yes, there’s reason for concern.”

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