Will hardline approach against extremism backfire in coastal Kenya?

(The Christian Science Monitor) The 26-year-old’s tone was calm as he recounted showing up at a local mosque here last month with dozens of other young men, armed with knives and ready to drive out the imam and other leaders for their flawed teachings of Islam.

In his dim, sweltering bedroom in a shack behind a welding workshop on the outskirts of this coastal city, he spoke of martyrdom and his path from drug addiction to jihad. He converted to Islam five years ago, finding sobriety via CDs and the preaching of a radical imam and recruiter for al-Shabaab, a militant group based in neighboring Somalia. 

“Burning churches, killing police—it’s not a sin to us; they are the biggest enemies of the movement,” said the young man, referring to the police and non-Muslims.