{"id":15241,"date":"2013-09-24T12:32:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T17:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/nairobi-mall-terrorist-attack-is-part-of-kenyas-sharp-rise-in-religious-hostilities\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:29:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:29:19","slug":"nairobi-mall-terrorist-attack-is-part-of-kenyas-sharp-rise-in-religious-hostilities","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/09\/24\/nairobi-mall-terrorist-attack-is-part-of-kenyas-sharp-rise-in-religious-hostilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Nairobi Westgate mall terrorist attack is part of Kenya\u2019s sharp rise in religious hostilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Somalia-based Islamic group\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/rundown\/2013\/09\/what-is-al-shabaab.html\">al-Shabab<\/a>\u00a0has claimed responsibility for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/09\/25\/world\/africa\/kenya-mall-shooting.html?hp\">the Nairobi shopping mall attack<\/a>\u00a0that began Saturday and has left at least 62 dead, saying that the assault is in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/j\/drl\/rls\/irf\/2012\/af\/208194.htm\">U.S. State Department considers<\/a> al-Shabab, which controls portions of Somalia, to be a terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda and says that al-Shabab has targeted non-Muslims and those who have converted from Islam to other religions. According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cfr.org\/somalia\/al-shabaab\/p18650\">Council on Foreign Relations<\/a>, al-Shabab is \u201cfighting for the creation of a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number of people killed in religion-related terrorist attacks in Kenya has dramatically increased in recent years. According to reports analyzed by the Pew Research Center as part of our ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/06\/20\/arab-spring-restrictions-on-religion-findings\/\">global study of religious restrictions and hostilities<\/a>, more than 300 people were killed, injured or displaced as a result of religion-related terrorist attacks in Kenya in 2012, more than twice as many as in 2011 and more than a five-fold increase from 2010.<\/p>\n\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-250088\" alt=\"FT_13.09.23_KenyaHostilities_3\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/FT_13.09.23_KenyaHostilities_3.png\" width=\"640\" height=\"566\"><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In general, social hostilities involving religion, defined by Pew Research as concrete acts of religious violence ranging from hate crimes to religion-related terrorism and war, are much higher in Kenya than in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. In 2012, Kenya had nearly four times the level of social hostilities (8.3 on a scale of 10) as the median level among the 48 countries in the region (2.1). The Pew Research <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/06\/20\/arab-spring-restrictions-on-religion-findings\/\">Social Hostilities Index<\/a> takes into account the level and intensity of hostilities, including sectarian violence, religion-related mob violence and so-called honor killings, where the perpetrators are motivated by religion.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a March <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2013\/06\/24\/climate-change-and-financial-instability-seen-as-top-global-threats\/\">Pew Research survey<\/a>, roughly half of Kenyans (55%) said Islamic extremist groups pose a major threat to their country.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/africa\/explosions-gunfire-at-kenyan-mall-as-armed-attack-enters-3rd-day\/2013\/09\/23\/b0b558be-2442-11e3-b3e9-d97fb087acd6_story.html?hpid=z1\">some reports<\/a> that the Nairobi mall militants are from several different countries. Kenya and Somalia are two of 51 countries where religion-related terrorist groups engaged in cross-border attacks or drew on international connections for support between 2009 and 2011, according to a related\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2012\/09\/cross-national-analysis.pdf\">Pew Research analysis<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of people killed in religion-related terrorist attacks in Kenya has dramatically increased in recent years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"a3caacf421534015430624edde8d3941","termId":910}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[161,173,172],"bylines":[910],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[514,511],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-15241","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-beliefs-practices","category-international-religious-freedom-restrictions","category-religion-politics-1","bylines-brian-j-grim","formats-short-read","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":325,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/09\/24\/nairobi-mall-terrorist-attack-is-part-of-kenyas-sharp-rise-in-religious-hostilities\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Nairobi Westgate mall terrorist attack is part of Kenya\u2019s sharp rise in religious hostilities","description":"The number of people killed in religion-related terrorist attacks in Kenya has dramatically increased in recent years. 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