A Pacific Council conference call exchange to analyze and discuss the Islamist militant group al-Shabab following its deadly assault at Garissa University in Kenya, which killed 148 people.

The call featured Dr. Anneli Botha, Senior Researcher of terrorism with the Transnational Threats and International Crime division of the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, and will be moderated by Dr. Mietek P. Boduszynski, Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at Pomona College.

The gruesome Garissa attack was the deadliest in Kenya by al-Shabab, which was formed in neighboring Somalia about ten years ago. The attack comes two years after the siege on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, which killed nearly 70 people. The group says it's punishing Kenya for supplying troops to fight Islamist extremists in Somalia. Our participants examined how and why this organization came to exist, how it can be stopped, what we know about the ambitions of al-Shabab in the region, and considered the implications of this latest attack in Kenya.