Kenya at war: Al-Shabaab and its enemies in Eastern Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Kenya at war: Al-Shabaab and its enemies in Eastern Africa
Authors:	Anderson, David M. McKnight, Jacob
Year:	2015
Periodical:	African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society (ISSN 1468-2621)
Volume:	114
Issue:	454
Pages:	1-27
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Kenya Somalia
Subjects:	Islamic movements foreign intervention war conflict Somali
External link:	http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/114/454/1.abstract
Abstract:	Kenya's invasion of southern Somalia, which began in October 2011, has turned into an occupation of attrition - while 'blowback' from the invasion has consolidated in a series of deadly Al-Shabaab attacks within Kenya. This article reviews the background to the invasion, Operation Linda Nchi, and the prosecution of the war by Kenya's Defence Forces up to the capture of the city of Kismayo and the contest to control its lucrative port. The second section discusses Al-Shabaab's response, showing how the movement has reinvented itself to take the struggle into Kenya. The authors conclude that while the military defeat of Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia seems inevitable, such a victory may become irrelevant to Kenya's ability to make a political settlement with its Somali and wider Muslim communities at home. Ref., sum. [Journal abstract]