AFRICA/KENYA - "The Shabaab attack Christians also for people to forget the massacres against Muslims committed by them", says Mgr. Alexander

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "The Shabaab have alienated much of the Somali population, which is mainly Muslim, for the massacres committed against other Muslims. This is why when now the Shabaab in Kenya attack a crowded place they discriminate between Muslims and Christians, saving the first and killing the second": explains to Agenzia Fides his Exc. Mgr. Joseph Alexander, Coadjutor Bishop of Garissa, where on Holy Thursday, April 2, 148 people were killed in the local university campus, in an attack committed by the Shabaab Somali, who chose their victims on the basis of their religious affiliation.
"This is one of the reasons why Christians in Kenya are being targeted, but there are also other factors, even if the end result is that the victims are always Christians" adds Mgr. Alexander recalling that on Christmas eve, Christian workers in Mandera (see Fides 02/12/2014) had been killed in a similar way, and that even in the massacre at Westegate mall in Nairobi (see 27/09/2013), Christians had been targeted by the Shabaab.
"The claim of the Shabaab confirms that these terrorist attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan army's presence in Somalia, whose troops have played an important role in throwing out the Shabaab from important areas of the coast, disrupting the lucrative trade with which the fundamentalist movement is financed", said the Bishop. "With these actions, the Shabaab hope to force Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia, allowing them to regain control of the coastal cities, including Mogadishu, in order to start taxing the population and restart their trades".
By attacking universities, the Shabaab aimed at hitting the hope of developing an area long ignored by the central government. "This is true as it is true that students and teachers are easy targets" responds Mgr. Alexander. "Keep in mind that most of the teachers are from other parts of Kenya and that they do not feel at home. This is because historically the area of Garissa was part of Somalia. The British drew a straight line to delineate the border between Somalia and Kenya, separating a Somali tribe. In fact, the border is very porous and people move from one side to the other easily", concludes the Coadjutor Bishop of Garissa. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/04/2015)