Israel required help from an East African country for the success of its Operation Entebbe raid to extract people from a hostage crisis.

On 2 March 1975, the day after the OTC bus blast, security officials including General Service Unit commander Ben Gethi publicly accosted JM Kariuki outside the Hilton hotel.

It was believed to be an act of revenge by pro-Palestinian militants for Kenya's supporting role in Israel's Operation Entebbe.

[11] On 7 August, between 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. local time, suicide bombers in trucks laden with explosives parked outside the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and almost simultaneously detonated.

[14] Although the attacks were directed at American facilities, the vast majority of casualties were local citizens of the two African countries; 12 Americans were killed,[15] including two Central Intelligence Agency employees in the Nairobi embassy,[16] and one U.S. Marine, Sergeant Jesse Aliganga, a Marine Security Guard at the Nairobi embassy.

Ten Kenyans died, nine of whom were employed by the hotel, most of them were said to be traditional dancers who came to welcome the 140 guests arriving from Israel by state-chartered jet and three Israelis, two of whom were children.

Police sought MR Bajnaf Mselem Swaleh Mahdi Khamisi, who they believe may lead them to Fazul, the main suspect.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, but the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta asserted that the attacks were organized by local politicians with ties to a network of gangs.

Correspondents from the area suggested that the attacks may have been motivated by ethnic or religious hatred, or revenge for land grabbing.

On 15 June 2014, about 50 masked gunmen hijacked a van[29][30] and raided a police station in the predominantly Christian town of Mpeketoni,[31] as well as burning hotels, restaurants, and government offices.

[33] On 22 November 2014, 28 people on board a bus were executed in the Omar Jillo area of Mandera County in the north-eastern tip of Kenya.

According to reports, the bus was hijacked by suspected members of the Islamist militant organisation al-Shabaab who identified and killed the non-Muslim passengers.

[37] On 15 January 2019, four gunmen attacked the DusitD2 complex at 14 Riverside Drive junction around 2:30 p.m. Before they were contained and brought down by the Kenya security forces, the terrorists killed 21 people and injured several others in the process.

The bill aims to allow police to tap private communications, seize property and access the bank details of suspected terrorists.

[71] President Mwai Kibaki approved the Prevention of Terrorist Act 2012, Kenya's first piece of anti-terrorist legislation to be passed, on 2 October 2012.

[72] At the urging of al-Shabaab,[24] an increasing number of terrorist attacks in Kenya have been carried out by local Kenyans, many of whom are recent converts to Islam.

[74] Referred to as the "Kenyan mujahideen by al-Shabaab's core members,[73] the converts are typically young and overzealous, poverty making them easier targets for the outfit's recruitment activities.

Because the Kenyan insurgents have a different profile from the Somali and Arab militants that allows them to blend in with the general population of Kenya, they are also often harder to track.