21ST. DOZENS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE ASSAULT, WITH SOMALI

MILITANT GROUP AL-SHABAB CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY.

AND WE'RE JOINED NOW BY VOA SOMALI SERVICE EDITOR DAUD AWEIS WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS

STORY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. WE KNOW AL- SHABAB IS A SOMALI

GROUP, BUT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THEIR MOTIVES FOR THIS ATTACK?

ACCORDING TO AL SHABAB'S MESSAGE IN THE TWITTER AND ALSO IN SOME OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE THE

SOMALI WEBSITE THEY SAY THAT THIS ATTACK WAS RETALIATION AGAINST WHAT

THEY CALL KENYA'S INVASION INTO SOMALI TERRITORY. WE KNOW THAT KENYAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA

IN 2011 TO HELP THE SOMALI GOVERNMENT AND TO FLUSH OUT AL-SHABAB FROM

SOME REGIONS IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA. BUT AFTER KENYAN FORCES TOOK THE PORT CITY OF KISMAYO

IN 2012, THERE WERE SOME THREATS FROM AL SHABAB SAYING THAT THEY WILL

RETALIATE BY INVADING AND ALSO BY ATTACKING SOME KEY INSTALLATIONS IN KENYA AND THIS IS

LIKE WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT, THEIR THREAT IS LIKE THEY ARE NOW

FULFILLING WHAT THEY SAID BEFORE, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RETALIATE AGAINST THE KENYAN

FORCES PRESENCE IN SOMALIA.

AND TELL US ABOUT THIS MALL THAT WAS ATTACKED.

THIS I CAN SAY IS THE BIGGEST MALL IN THE REGION. IT'S A MALL WHERE THE DIPLOMATS AND

THE WEALTHY PEOPLE IN KENYA GO. MANY DIPLOMATS, WESTERN COUNTRIES'

DIPLOMATS, AFRICAN DIPLOMATS AND THE KENYAN PEOPLE THEMSELVES GO THERE. AND DURING THE

WEEKENDS IS WHEN THEY ARE FULL OF PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT KINDS. YOU CAN FIND

SOME RESTAURANTS, SOME CINEMAS AND SOME OTHER BIG SHOPS INSIDE. THAT'S WHY PEOPLE LIKE TO

SHOP, NOT ONLY PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN KENYA, EVEN PEOPLE FROM THE REST OF

THE REGION, EVEN PEOPLE FROM THE NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES, LIKE TANZANIA, UGANDA, ALSO WHEN

THEY ARE VISITING NAIROBI, THEY HAVE TO GO THERE TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.

THEY ARE TO GO TO CINEMA, TO BUY SOME THINGS, LIKE GIFTS AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

WELL WHAT IS AL SHABAB, AND WHAT ARE ITS TIES TO AL QAIDA?

AL SHABAB IS A SOMALI MILITANT GROUP, IT EMERGED DURING THE SOMALI ISLAMIST COURTS ERA IN 2006.

IT WAS THE YOUTH GROUP OF THE ISLAMIC COURTS, AND LATER ON THEY

WERE FIGHTING WITH THE ETHOPIAN FORCES WHEN THE ETHIOPIAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA TO FIGHT

AGAINST THE ISLAMIC COURTS UNION, AND AL SHABAB WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN

EXTREMIST GROUP BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. FROM THAT TIME THEY WERE FIGHTING AGAINST

THE SOMALI GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE FIGHTING AGAINST THE AFRICAN UNION

FORCES, AND AFTER THE KENYAN FORCES WENT TO SOMALIA IN 2011 THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD

ALSO CARRY ATTACKS AGAINST THE KENYAN FORCES BECAUSE OF THEIR PRESENCE IN

SOMALIA.

NOW YOU TALK ABOUT PROMISES OF THESE KINDS OF ATTACKS THAT WERE MADE BEFORE BY AL SHABAB.

ARE THERE CONCERNS THAT ANOTHER ATTACK LIKE THIS ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS

WILL HAPPEN AGAIN?

I THINK IF PREVENTION MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN, BY THE KENYAN FORCES, SOME KIND OF THIS ATTACK

MAY HAPPEN AGAIN, BECAUSE THE AL SHABAB IS ALSO SAYING THAT THEY WILL

CONTINUE ATTACKING KENYAN TARGETS UNLESS THE KENYAN FORCES DECIDE TO WITHDRAW THEIR FORCES

FROM KISMAYO IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. DAUD AWEIS, EDITOR OF THE VOA SOMALI SERVICE.