In downtown Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 18, a bomb on a bus killed nine people. Blaming Somalis, angry mobs attacked Nairobi’s Eastleigh district, known as “Little Mogadishu,” the next day, smashing windows and looting stores. Ethnic Somalis fought back with machetes. Police tried to stop the ensuing riot with tear gas and then bullets.
Also on Nov. 19, after three African Union troops were shot while changing a tire in the eastern town of Garissa, scores of troops reacted by detaining and beating residents of the town. Eight people were shot and 50 wounded in the two days of violence that followed.
Many Kenyans blame ethnic Somalis for recent terrorist attacks in Kenya that followed an African Union joint military action to drive out the al-Shabaab terrorist group from Somalia in 2011. The attacks in Kenya have intensified as al-Shabaab has been forced out of its Somalian strongholds.