Garissa University Attack Fours Years On

On the early morning of April 2, 2015, four terrorists from Al-Shabaab an offshoot of Al-Qaeda with their base in neighbouring Somalia stormed Garissa University. In a complex assault attack that lasted the all day, 142 students, three soldiers and three police officers were killed bringing the total fatalities to 148 and making it one of the deadliest attack in Kenya. All the four terrorists were killed in a fierce firefight with a special anti-terrorism squad from the General Service Unit (GSU).

Close to 600 students escaped from the terrorists and 79 were injured. The students who survived were transferred to Moi University in Eldoret (700 Kilometres away) and 300 of them graduated on December 20, 2018. This shows the resilience and determination of the students to put the attack behind them and look on to a brighter future.

On January 15 this year, Al-Shabaab terrorists executed a similar attack at the high end 14 New Riverside (Dusit 2 Hotel) complex in Westlands, Nairobi. This time the terrorists involved a suicide bomber, a first in the history of terrorist attacks in the country. This attack coincided with the third commemoration of the El-Adde terrorist attack on the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on a similar date three years earlier.

The latest terrorist attack was a wake-up call in understanding the psychology and importance of commemorating attack anniversaries by Al-Shabaab operatives and their cohorts. While it is a known fact that this is a trend/tradition of the terrorists and our counterterrorism agencies prepare and try to preempt the attacks, the antagonists have an upper hand in this game of wits.

They had in the past, and they still have the advantage of selecting several targets and continuously testing the security layers, choosing and varying the method of attack that suits the prevailing security levels, conceal their movement, and control the timing of the attack.

It is, therefore, prudent that around these times the security operation levels and threat levels are raised (both overtly and covertly) to monitor any suspicious activities and to reassure the public of maximum security and safety. However, people should be encouraged to carry on with their normal business instead of being carried away with the dramatics of terrorism. This is because one of the fundamental aims of terrorism is to instil fear that is disproportionate to the risk (ISMI); as observed by the Chinese military strategist Sun Tsu, "kill one, scare ten thousand."

While the terrorists almost always have an upper hand against law enforcement agencies in terms of concealment, planning and timing, this balance of scale can be tilted to the law enforcement's advantage if the public understands and is adept with the situational and procedural awareness of the threat that they face.

Like a 'Swiss cheese', the terrorists will try to exploit any loose links like a lax and non-observant public, a public that can not question strangers who are acting in a suspicious way, person(s) who can easily be social engineered to knowingly or unknowingly give vital information or transport them from one point to another or just think fighting terrorism is the government's responsibility.

Conversely, a public which understands it's situational and procedural awareness will always be alert and ready to question/probe any suspicious activities within their spaces and react accordingly to avert or make it difficult for the adversaries to execute their plans.

It is the responsibility of all stakeholders - law enforcement, anti-terrorism multi-agency and the public to come together and be more vigilant and pay more attention in order to make it difficult for a recurrence of similar attacks. Ultimately, this will frustrate the terrorists to always lament in the infamous Irish Republican Army (IRA) way after narrowly failing to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that 'We have to be lucky once since you will have to be lucky always'. That 'Being lucky once' is what has to be curtailed.