Al-Shabaab's attacks on Christians continue to rise in East Africa, according to ACLJ

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has warned that the attack against Christians by the radical Islamic group al-Shabaab in East Africa continue to rise, with an estimated 9,000 jihadist soldiers at the disposal of the terrorist organization.

In an article published on Thursday, the ACLJ listed a number of attacks carried out by Al-Shabaab in the past few years, including the door-to-door raids Kenya in July, when seven Christians were hunted down and killed by the militants.

"In the past few years, the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab carried out attacks in the counties of Mombasa, Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Lamu, and Tana River and said it had targeted non-Muslims because of their faith. In Lamu County, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for at least 65 deaths, with some witnesses reporting the terrorists asked the religion of victims, killing non-Muslims," ACLJ's affiliate, the East African Centre for Law & Justice (EACLJ), lamented.

The ACLJ noted that in July 2012, at least 17 people were killed and more than 50 were injured when gunmen stormed the African Inland church and a nearby Catholic church in Garissa, Kenya and opened fire on the congregants.

The group was also responsible for killing 148 people at Garissa University in April 2015, when the militants specifically hunted down Christian students to kill, separating them from the Muslims, according to The Christian Post.

In August this year, the extremist group killed four Christians in Kenya's Lamu County, burning one of them alive and beheading the three others.

The ACLJ has warned that the radical Islamic group may have an "estimated 9,000 jihadist soldiers and a plethora of outside resources to draw upon," making the group "less likely to relent" in their terrorist activities.

Al-Shabaab, whose name translates to "The Youth," has been designated by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies as the deadliest terror group in Africa in June, killing over 4,000 people in 2016.

The group has been active for over a decade and has specifically targeted the Church in Kenya, accusing it of spreading the Christian faith in the region.

In the group's latest attack on Sunday, the terrorists have claimed to have killed 25 soldiers during their attempt to invade a military base on the outskirts of Somalia's coastal city of Kismayo. According to a Somalia National Army (SNA) official, at least 20 Al-Shabaab militants were killed and several others were injured in the attack.

The African Union (AU) and Somali forces have been stepping up airstrikes in southern Somalia recently, resulting in the killing of several militants and some defections.

In April, the Critical Threats monitoring group warned that Al Shabaab has been trying to cultivate support from the public by providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable populations in rural Somalia.

"The group is well-positioned to capitalize on devastating drought and impending famine. Al Shabaab seeks to backfill the capabilities gap of the weak central government in Mogadishu that cannot meet the humanitarian needs of millions of its citizens," the report stated.