The New York Times quotes Africa Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton on the motivation behind al-Shabaab’s attack on Garissa University in Kenya and what can be done to stop them:

Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council, a research institute in Washington, said she suspected the Shabab were “beginning to play with class distinctions.”

“Westgate and, to a lesser extent, Garissa University College are both enclaves of privilege in a country where youths, especially Muslim youths, are frustrated by the lack of economic opportunity,” she said. “Eventually, Shabab is going to have to find a way to connect with non-Somali Muslims.”

[…]

“Stopping the Shabab is going to be tough,” Ms. Bruton said, adding that the region’s security services desperately needed reform, and “that will take years.”

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