New York Times quotes Africa Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton on al-Shabaab’s intent to provoke Kenyan security forces:
“From a propaganda standpoint, I suspect that Shabab is trying to play the role of a Robin Hood, swooping in at random to avenge the wrongs done to the Muslim communities,” said Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council in Washington.
The goal of the Shabab, she said, is “to draw down indiscriminate fire on the Muslim population” and to goad the Kenyan security forces into counterproductive dragnets and purges.