A decade after the terrorist attacks on Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Kenya and its US ally have once again come up against the threat from Islamist extremists.

The recent violent street demonstrations in Nairobi have revived fears of Islamist attacks in Kenya. These demonstrations were in solidarity with the Muslim extremist cleric from Jamaica, Abdullah al-Faisal whom the Kenyan government recently deported back to his country. George Saitoti, the Minister for Internal Security, himself admitted publicly that partisans of the Somalian group Al Shabaab, said to be linked to Al Qaeda, had played a role in these street protests and had succeeded in infiltrating the Muslim community in Kenya. So, the United States embassy in Nairobi asked the Kenyan government to put all the official and private buildings likely to be targets of Islamic terrorists under permanent surveillance. It also sent a note to the Kenyan ministry for foreign affairs expressing its concern about the security of American citizens present in the country and its fears that the Kenyan authorities were unable to control the border with Somalia. The United States could alter their "advice to travellers" to discourage their fellow citizens from visiting Kenya.