We must be vigilant until Shabaab is defeated

The dusitD2 hotel on 14 Riverside Drive, Nairobi, opens its doors to the public today. On January 15, 2019, the hotel came under a terrorist attack from the Somalia-based Al Shabaab militia group. In the attack, 21 people were confirmed dead. Thereafter, the hotel’s operations were stopped while reconstruction went underway.

While it is not our desire to relive those painful memories, we cannot wish away the reality of the danger that Al Shabaab still poses to our great country. Many have been the times that the atrocities of the militia group along our common border with Somalia have been reported.

A number of lives, both civilian and police, have been lost in those sporadic attacks. The entry of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) into Somalia in 2011 following the abduction of a tourist may have disoriented the militants.  KDF’s efforts have paid off by severely restricting the activities of the militia group, but that is not to say they have been defeated.

Even as Kenya prepares to petition the United Nations to declare Al Shabaab a terrorist organisation, our security agencies should not relax their vigil in ensuring our borders remain secure from terrorist attacks.

Indeed, by declaring Al Shabaab a terrorist organisation, the world’s attention, aimed at eradicating all forms of terrorism, will be focused on it.

It is only by pooling resources that such an amorphous group of miscreants who transgress international borders, maiming and killing for no just cause, will be defeated.