Need to Know News: Mall Siege In Kenya

• What/when? Saturday September 21st: Islamist militants from the group al-Shabaab (or al-Shabab, meaning “the Youth”) attacked Westgate Mall, a shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, holding hostages.
• Why? al-Shabaab and affiliated Islamist groups once controlled a significant portion of Somalia. In recent years, the Kenyan government sought to overthrow al-Shabaab from its seat of power in Somalia, through military force.
• Who? Al-Shabaab allegedly targeted non-Muslims, though casualties included citizens of Nairobi as well as international citizens. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, has called for unity of Kenyans in response to the attack, which ended with defeat of the militants and the building’s partial collapse.

Learn more here: http://world.time.com/2013/09/21/terror-in-nairobi-behind-al-shabaabs-war-with-kenya/
and here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/09/what-is-al-shabaab.html

Image sourced from Google maps.