What has happened at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, last week and the killing of 68 innocent civilians by the Al Shabab extremist group, based in Somalia, brings home the stark fact that no country is immune from terrorist acts. The terrorists have to succeed only once to wreak havoc and senseless destruction on an unimaginable scale. While they can succeed once the State, any State for that matter, must succeed at all times against terrorist designs so that no terrorists succeed. Realism, however, suggests that this kind of security protection is not achievable at all times.

A factor which is disturbing is the internationalization of Al Shabab by individuals being recruited from all countries, including those like the USA which, through their National Security Agency (incidentally exposed by Edward Snowden at present in exile in Russia) which can monitor any communication anywhere in the world. Despite the deep penetration by the security agencies around the world into the terrorist networks, the latter can still plan, prepare, recruit and execute with impunity. If reports coming out of Nairobi are anything to go by, there is an Interpol arrest warrant for the ‘White widow’, a British female national who apparently knows about the Westgate attacks. The reports also speak of the attackers belonging to many nationalities.

Recently, a press report in our ‘plaisir’ country mentioned the possibility of a Mauritian who has made his way to Syria to fight either with the rebels or the Syrian forces. Jihad seems to be so attractive that these individuals are ready to sacrifice anything in the name of Jihad. Not all Muslims share this view of Islam and I have met lots of Muslims, both here and abroad, who condemn these acts of violence which have nothing to do with the teachings of Islam. I was working with two Sudanese last week and both of them were horrified at the Nairobi attacks and the pretensions of the so-called jihadists. They said that there can be no Jihad against children and innocent people.

The Nairobi terrorists adopted a selection of their victims and all those who were Muslims were spared. This is exactly what had happened during the Mumbai attacks 5 years ago when the non-Muslims were identified and targeted. Ethnic cleansing is evil by any standards but, when it happens as a deliberate policy in times of peace, it becomes a crime which transcends everything human.

One reason being mooted about the Nairobi attacks is that Kenya intervened militarily in Somalia to get rid of the Al Shabab fundamentalists. Terrorists will find excuses for whatever attacks they want to perpetrate. This is why the prosecution of pirates in Mauritius can be used as an excuse should either the Somalis or others who are indoctrinated by their dogmas decide to carry out an attack. Kenya will need time to overcome the trauma and the loss it has sustained. Its tourism sector will need time to recover.

The sequels of a terrorist attack anywhere are many and impossible to anticipate. The security apparatus ineach country will revisit their intelligence-gathering and the movements of people will be more closely monitored. This naturally means a curtailment of fundamental freedoms but it is a direct consequence of what the terrorists do. They are to be blamed for our loss of freedoms.