Lawmakers: Kenya Attack Shows Sophistication of Terrorists

By Jamila Trindle and Kristina Peterson

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers said Sunday that the ongoing terrorist siege of a shopping center in Kenya was a sophisticated attack that showed terror groups are continuing a strategy of going after “soft targets.”

“This is a very sophisticated attack, very similar to what we saw in Mumbai,” Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) said on ABC’s “This Week.” In the Indian city, more than 160 people were killed in 2008 in about a dozen coordinated attacks.

In Kenya, the gunmen are still holding people hostage in a shopping mall in Nairobi as the siege, which has already resulted in 59 deaths, goes into its second day.

Mr. King said the terror group that has claimed responsibility for the attack, Somalia’s al-Shabaab militant group, is an “extremely deadly organization” that is “very well trained.”

The group is “one of the only al Qaeda affiliates that has actively recruited here in the United States,” said Mr. King, who is chairman of a House counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee.  He said he assumed the FBI would be looking into Somali-American communities in the U.S. to make sure there is no threat of a follow-up attempt.

Frances Townsend, former homeland security advisor to President George W. Bush, said U.S. officials are likely scrutinizing Somali-Americans recruited by the group.  She said more than half of the 40 to 50 Somali-Americans recruited by al-Shabaab come from Minnesota, so law enforcement officials are likely focusing their efforts there.

“Were any of them involved in this attack, and what is the FBI doing to identify potential threats to this country?” Ms. Townsend said.

Mr. King said the attack shows the growing influence of al Qaeda in Africa.

“We’re talking about a very significant terrorist group here showing a capacity to attack outside their borders,” Mr. King said.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.), the senior Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said that the attack was a sign that al Qaeda is on the rise.

“This is another indication that soft targets is where al Qaeda is going, and they’re not on the decline,” Mr. Coburn said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”