Kenya's Balancing Act After Westgate Attack

Kenyan authorities face a delicate balancing act to limit social and economic fallout from the Westgate shopping mall attacks, while pressing ahead with military strikes on militants in Somalia, writes the BBC's Africa security correspondent Moses Rono.

Despite threats by Somali Islamists to carry out further attacks in the country, Kenya will not withdraw its troops from Somalia.

Islamists from the al-Shabab organisation, said to be affiliated to al-Qaeda, have claimed responsibility for the siege in Nairobi which left 72 dead - including five militants - and nearly 200 injured.
The crisis is the biggest security challenge yet to face President Uhuru Kenyatta, who inherited concerns linked to the spread of militant Islam when he took power in April this year.

It is bound to have wide-ranging social and financial ramifications for Kenya, East Africa's biggest economy.

The Westgate attack marks an escalation in attacks blamed on - and at times claimed by - al-Shabab.
More than 30 people have been killed in a string of bomb and grenade attacks that began after Kenya sent troops into Somalia to hunt them down in October 2011.

Kenyan authorities had accused the Islamists of a series of kidnappings inside Kenya, which threatened to negatively affect one of its major foreign exchange earners - tourism.

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