President Barrack Obama visited Kenya in 2015, just months after Somalia-based terrorist group carried out a deadly attack at the Garissa University College that claimed 148 lives.
During a joint press conference with his Kenyan counterpart President Uhuru Kenyatta, President Obama shared his thoughts on why the terror group had been able to carry out the attack in spite of lacking military superiority.
The former president pinned everything down to the group's ideology and willingness of members within its ranks to die.
"As is true around the world, what we find is that we can significantly degrade these groups but they can still do a lot of damage. The number of individuals that were involved in Garissa were not large but when they are willing to target soft targets and civilians and they are willing to die they can do a lot of damage," President Obama said.
Obama hailed the progress that had been made in combating the scourge of terrorism in East Africa and around the world.
Al-Shabaab continues to pose serious security threats in areas of its operation even in the wake of unrelenting military pressure that has been brought to bear on it.