Kenya
The port hub of Mombasa, Kenya’s second-largest city, is at the center of a religious divide. It’s a predominately Muslim region of an otherwise Christian nation, and residents say it’s an area that has been neglected by the government. The simmering tensions have often erupted into violence.
In 1992, Mombasa, witnessed many street battles between the police and supporters of the Islamic Party of Kenya, which was trying to get its members elected to parliament on a radical Islamic platform.
Though they were unsuccessful electorally, scores were injured and extensive property destroyed in ensuing street battles with police.
On Sept. 21, 2013, unidentified gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. The attack, which lasted until Sept. 24, left 67 people dead, including four attackers. Over 175 people were wounded in the mass shooting, with all of the gunmen eventually reported killed.
The Islamist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the incident, which it characterized as retribution for the Kenyan military’s deployment in Somalia in October 2011. Since the Westgate mall attack, Kenya has been hit by a wave of religious violence in the coastal region.
