A witnesses described, there were many attackers and were all armed with guns. People were watching a World Cup match when they shot them indiscriminately. Only men were targeted. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault but Police said Somalia’s Al Shabaab Islamist group was most likely to blame. Only men were targeted. The gunmen raced into Mpeketoni in two minibuses, the kind used as public taxis in Kenya. They also hit two hotels, a bank and a police station with guns and at least one explosive device was used. Al Shabaab, based in Somalia, joined the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda as a cell in 2012. They impose strict forms of Sharia law and were estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 militants. Al-Shabaab describes itself as waging jihad against “enemies of Islam”. They had also been accused of being responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of elephants every year for their ivory.
