East Africa

The Real Reason al-Shabab Attacked a Mall in Kenya

By Bronwyn Bruton

Kenya has suffered devastating terror attacks in the past, worst among them al-Qaeda’s bombing of the American embassy in Nairobi (and simultaneously in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) in 1998. That attack killed almost two hundred Kenyans, and was followed in 2002 by an attempted missile strike on an Israeli commercial airline and the destruction of […]

Head of NATO Condemns Nairobi Terrorist Attack

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, which killed and injured so many people, including citizens of NATO nations.

Photos from Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi

Terrorists attacked an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, September 21. Since early 2012, experts from the Africa Center have talked about the likelihood of Kenya becoming a target for Somali terrorist groups. We’re aggregating relevant content, including media appearances and publications.Below are photo galleries from the initial attack and from earlier today when […]

Kenya Working Group Meeting with Ministerial Delegation from the Republic of Kenya

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a meeting of the Kenya Working Group with a ministerial delegation from the Republic of Kenya, including H.E. Amina Mohamed, cabinet secretary of foreign affairs, and H.E. Fred Matiangi, cabinet secretary of information, communication, and technology. The session was moderated by Ambassador William M. Bellamy, Warburg professor of international […]

Obama in Africa: Take Two

By Sam Fishman

Africa is occupying a larger space on the world stage. Security threats posed by new Islamic extremist groupings, the continent’s rapid GDP growth, and a bullish China blowing past the US in bilateral trade suggest that the continent will rise higher on the presidential agenda.  Presidents Bush and Clinton took a special interest in Africa, […]

IntelBrief: Implications of the Kenyan Elections

By Bronwyn Bruton

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Ansari Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton argues that while International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Uhuru Kenyatta has secured a presidential victory in […]

Handicapping the Kenyan Election

By Bronwyn Bruton

As Kenyans go to the polls, observers are bracing for a replay of the country’s horrific 2007 presidential elections, which produced a wave of ethnic violence that killed more than a thousand people and displaced over a half a million.