Al-Shabab power struggle behind attack in Nairobi
Jihadist hardliners' seizure of control of Somali-based militant group is a statement of intent that will lead to more atrocities, say analysts
The attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi by Islamist militants from the Somali-based al-Shabab group is a direct product of the long-running failure of western powers and African Union countries to end more than 20 years of anarchy in the "failed state" of Somalia.
But it also reflects the outcome of a brutal power struggle within al-Shabab that has brought the group's hardline global jihadist wing to the fore.
Video: Volunteers help soldiers and police take on Islamist militants
At first glance the Westgate atrocity simply looks like a vicious reprisal for successful military operations undertaken in southern Somalia by the 4,000 Kenyan troops attached to Amisom, the 18,000-strong African-Union-led, UN-backed peacemaking mission. A statement by al-Shabab said as much, and threatened more of the same until the "Kenyan invaders" withdrew. But Westgate can also be seen as a chilling statement of intent by Ahmed Abdi Godane, the al-Shabab leader, who consolidated his power in June in an internal coup.
Among four top commanders who were executed by Godane were two of the group's co-founders, known as al-Afghani and Burhan. Al-Shabab's spiritual leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, fled for his life, and was subsequently detained by Somali government forces.
The infighting continues. Earlier this month, the Alabama-born al-Shabab commander Omar Hammami, known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki or "the American", and a British national known as Usama al-Britani, were shot dead in a dawn raid on their hideout by Godane's allies.