Legality of State Interventions as a Means of Self-Defense Against Terrorism

On October 1, 2011, Marie Dedieu, a 66-year-old disabled French woman, was kidnapped from her home near Kenyäs Manda Island by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen. She died while in the assailants¿ custody that same month. On October 13, 2011, suspected Al-Shabaab militants kidnapped two female Spanish Médecins sans Frontières aid workers from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, and took them to Somalia. On 14th October 2011, the Kenya Defense Forces went into Somalia with a mission to defeat Al-Shabaab. This was an all too familiar step taken, drawing comparisons to the US invasion of Iraq. In a world where the threat of terror is constantly confronting states, states are still grappling with how to effectively respond and defend themselves. This book looks at the concept of self-defense in the context of terrorism through analyzing whether Kenya's intervention in Somalia was lawful under international law.