Al-Shabab’s primary aim is still regaining control of Somalia - but they also have their sights set on attacking the West, says Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College London.

“Their main way of doing this is fighting the insurgency and also striking the countries that are involved in the mission to remove them from Somalia. This includes Kenya and Uganda. So Kenya and Uganda are really at the top of their list as targets but also below that, especially for the global jihadist element of al-Shabab, there is also the desire to hit out at what they see as the real puppet masters of this whole thing, which is America and Israel, who they believe Kenya and Uganda are acting as proxies for,” said Meleagrou-Hitchens.

The targeting of non-Muslims in the latest attack suggests al-Shabab is increasingly rooted in the ideology of al-Qaida, says Gohel.

“What we’ve seen in the last couple of years is an internal conflict emerge within al-Shabab where a core leadership has now aligned themselves ideologically with al-Qaida central, now led by Ayman al-Zawahiri. And it’s that element that has carried out this particular attack, or that is what is believed to be the case,” said Gohel.

Kenyan authorities - and foreign intelligence services - will aim to uncover more about the ideology and international links once the attackers are identified.