Kenya attack: Why al-Shabaab live-tweeted the assault

Whenal-Shabaablaunched its deadly attack on theWestgateMall in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, it brazenly and boastfully live-tweeted the assault, a move that revealed how social mediasavvytheal-Qaeda-linked organization has become.

"If any group wasgoingto do this, it probably wasgoing to beal-Shabaabbecauseof their use of social media,"RaffaelloPantucci, a senior research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told CBC News

"They'reclearlyanorganizationthat sees the value," saidPantucci, whofocuseson counter-terrorism. "Broadly speaking they've been quite canny about how they've done all this."

Al-Shabaablaunched its attack Saturday, killing a reported 62 people, including two Canadian citizens. Canadian officials have also confirmed that at least two Canadian citizens wereamong the 175 injured in the attack at theupscale shopping mall.

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During Saturday's attack, the group's Twitter account@HSMPress (theHSMstands for "Harakatal-Shabaabal-Mujahideen") gave an updated account of events, while explaining the purpose of itsactions.

"TheMujahideenentered #WestgateMall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the #KenyanKuffarinside their own turf," the group tweeted.

Earlier Sunday, al-Shabaab tweeted from a different Twitter feedafter its previous one was shut down Saturday that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate and offering incentives.

"We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest,"al-Shabaabsaid in a tweet.

But Twitter is just one of the social media tools the group employs. Facebookand YouTube have also been exploited to broadcast its message and ideology,which is generally aimed at a younger, Western audience.

That social media is so heavily used byal-Shabaabis hardly surprising as the organization started back in 2006with a primarily young membership.

"Al-Shabaabhas always been more cutting edge in terms of usage of media,"RudolphAtallah, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's AfricaCenter, told CBC News.

The group has also beenfairlycreative in its use of audio and visual images in its development of recruitment-like YouTubevideos showcasing its leaders and the organization's capabilities, all to appeal to a younger generation,Atallahsaid.

But it seems to be most productive on Twitter. And since a terrorist organization isfundamentally about trying to broadcast a message, Twitter is the perfect vehicle,Pantucciadded.

Its feeds have been shut down a number of times for violating Twitter's terms of use, only to spring up again in another form, said Kenneth Hall, a Queens University political science research assistant who researchedal-Shabaaband its use of social media.

Twitter wars

Al-Shabaabis fairly prolific and, like many users, has been involved in Twitter wars with different groups, including a tweet spat with aspokesman with the Kenyan military.

"There wasactually a fairly lively back and forthbetween thetwoaccountswhereal-Shaabadwas taunting theKenyanmilitary," Hall said.

"There'sdefinitely a hint of arrogance in the way they do theirsocialmedia," Hall said."It's aboutcapability. Thatthey'renot onlycapableof pulling off theseattacks inthe firstplacebut they're alsocapableof broadcastingthesethings to the worldbeforeany Western media outlet is able to."

But the group also uses social media to boast about attacks that the Western media doesnt cover,Atallahsaid.

"When that happens,al-Shabaabis good at going on Twitter and Facebook, showing photos of their handiwork," he said.

That also helps shore up its credentials amongal-Qaeda, which has had a strained relationship withal-Shabaabin the past.

But a top priority remains therecruitment of foreign fighters, whohave at timesbecome disillusioned with the organization.

"The amplification on Twitter, the amplification on Facebookare all ways to show, one, viability, and two, it amplifies their message to recruit more,"Atallahsaid.

Kenyan officials have said thatfighters from an array of nations participated in the attack on the mall.

"Obviously, the Twitter feeds and the social media feedshavehad someimpactin this,"Atallahsaid.