Somali militant group poses danger

Last week, Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamic militant group, carried out an attack on Garissa University College in Kenya, killing 147 students. It seems too commonplace in today’s global narrative that we hear news of a massacre or killing by an extremist group. The volume of attacks, however, doesn’t mitigate the impact they have on a community. This attack on students in their dormitories is the largest killing by Al-Shabaab in their history. Their attacks have increased in both scope and scale, and they will only continue to wield violence. Al-Shabaab’s disregard for human life to further their barbaric and senseless acts is a cause for global concern. This regrettable attack needs to serve as an impetus for action before further attacks are carried out.

For years, Al-Shabaab has been causing political instability in Kenya and Somalia. Hundreds of Kenyans have lost their lives at the hands of the terrorist group. Similar to ISIS in the Middle East and Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabaab continues to cause instability and chaos in order to advance their own out-of-touch and insensible ideology. When Al-Shabaab initially requested to join al-Qaeda in 2009, Osama bin-Laden had apprehensions about the organization stemming from the group’s penchant to kill indiscriminately and without deliberation. Bin-Laden, the former leader of the world’s most feared terrorist organizations, thought Al-Shabaab went too far in terms of terror. When the mastermind behind numerous deadly attacks around the world, including the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, keeps another terrorist organization at bay because of its savage history, it is a reminder that Al-Shabab needs to be eliminated.

In 2013, Al-Shabaab carried out an attack on one of Kenya’s most cherished buildings, an upscale mall that stood as a symbol of Kenya’s modern advancements and economic development. At least 67 people died, and the image of Kenya as one of Africa’s most stable and secure countries took a hit. With this latest attack, Al-Shabaab continues to damage the goodwill and welfare of Kenya and erase the progress the West African country has made.

What makes the university attack even more tragic is the fact that the militants separated Muslims and Christians, killing the Christians. Those Christians who said they were Muslim to spare themselves were asked to recite a Muslim prayer, and when they failed to do so, they were shot in cold blood. The idea that students were discriminated against on religious grounds, and that faith alone served as the indicator of life or death is a striking reflection of the intolerance the group holds. It is also a philosophy to which terrorists around the world subscribe.

Some at the university were Muslim. Some were Christian. They all, however, were students — students who wished for an education and whose lives were cut short because of barbarism and fanatic ideologies. Like the valiance demonstrated by the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram, the students at Garissa University College displayed more heroism than any of the militants that callously carried out the detestable attack. With Al-Shabaab meaning “The Youth” in Arabic, the irony is not lost in the group staging a mass murder at a university full of innocent, young students.

The international community must be on guard with Al-Shabaab. Kenyans are so worried about the instability caused by the group that a massive wall is being considered to block the border between Kenya and Somalia. The specter of terrorism and the threat of extremism is spreading throughout the Middle East and Africa. The United Nations and other international coalitions should help bolster the autonomous governments of countries that experience too often the devastating effects of terrorism. The network of terrorist organizations is diverse, and as a result, it will take a complex and long counterterror campaign to extinguish the threats posed.

On the world stage, terrorism has no welcome pass.

Athanasius Georgy is a sophomore majoring in economics. His column, “On the World Stage,” runs Thursdays.