1998 United States embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings | |
---|---|
Deaths | 224 (213 in Nairobi, 11 in Dar es Salaam) |
Injured | 4,000+ |
Perpetrators | al-Qaeda Egyptian Islamic Jihad |
Motive | Revenge for the extradition and alleged torture of Egyptian Islamic Jihad members |
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two Capital East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and the other at the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.[1]
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah were credited with being the masterminds behind the bombings.[2][3][4]
Motivation and preparation
The bombings are widely believed to have been revenge for U.S. involvement in the extradition and alleged torture of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) who had been arrested in Albania in the two months prior to the attacks for a series of murders in Egypt.[5] Between June and July, Ahmad Isma'il 'Uthman Saleh, Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar, Shawqi Salama Mustafa Atiya, and Mohamed Hassan Tita were all renditioned from Albania to Egypt with the co-operation of the United States; the four men were accused of participating in the assassination of Rifaat el-Mahgoub, as well as a later plot against the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo.[6] The following month, a communique was issued warning the United States that a "response" was being prepared to "repay" them for their interference.[7] However, the 9/11 Commission Report claims that preparations began shortly after Osama bin Laden issued his February 1998 fatwa.[8]
According to journalist
In May 1998, a villa in Nairobi was purchased by one of the bombers to enable a bomb to be built in the garage. Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan purchased a beige Toyota Dyna truck in Nairobi and a 1987 Nissan Atlas refrigeration truck in Dar es Salaam. Six metal bars were used to form a "cage" on the back of the Atlas to accommodate the bomb.[10]
In June 1998, KK Mohamed rented House 213 in the
In both Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Mohammed Odeh supervised construction of two very large 2,000-pound (900 kg) destructive devices. The Nairobi bomb was made of 400 to 500 cylinders of
The bombings were scheduled for August 7, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia during the early stages of the Persian Gulf War, likely a choice by Osama bin Laden.[13]
When bin Laden's bodyguard asked him after the attacks whether so many victims were really necessary, he replied referring to
Attacks and casualties
On August 7 between 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. local time (3:30–3:40 a.m.
While Azzam drove the Toyota Dyna quickly toward the Nairobi embassy along with Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali,[24][page needed] local security guard Benson Okuku Bwaku was warned to open the gate immediately and fired upon when he refused to comply. Al-Owhali threw a stun grenade at embassy guards before exiting the vehicle and running off.[25][page needed] Osama bin Laden later offered the explanation that it had been Al-Owhali's intention to leap out and shoot the guards to clear a path for the truck, but that he had left his pistol in the truck and subsequently ran off.[24][page needed] As Bwaku radioed to Marine Post One for backup, the truck detonated.[25][page needed]
The explosion damaged the embassy building and collapsed the neighboring Ufundi Building where most victims were killed, mainly students and staff of a secretarial college housed there. The heat from the blast was channeled between the buildings towards Haile Selassie Avenue where a packed commuter bus was burned. Windows were shattered in a radius of nearly 1⁄2 mi (800 meters). A large number of eye injuries occurred because people in buildings nearby who had heard the first explosion of the hand grenade and the shooting went to their office windows to have a look when the main blast occurred and shattered the windows.[26][27]
Meanwhile, the Atlas truck that attacked the US Embassy at 36 Laibon Road, Dar es Salaam was being driven by Hamden Khalif Allah Awad, known as "Ahmed the German" due to his blond hair, a former camp trainer who had arrived in the country only a few days earlier.[10] The death toll was less than in Nairobi as the U.S. embassy was located outside the city center in the upscale Oysterbay neighborhood, and a water truck prevented the suicide bombers from getting closer to the structure.[28]
Following the attacks, a group calling itself the "Liberation Army for Holy Sites" took credit for the bombings. U.S. investigators believe the term was a cover used by Egyptian Islamic Jihad, who had actually perpetrated the bombing.[29]
Aftermath and international response
In response to the bombings, President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Infinite Reach, a series of cruise missile strikes on targets in Sudan and Afghanistan on August 20, 1998, announcing the planned strike in a prime-time address on U.S. television.[30]
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1189 condemning the attacks on the embassies.[31]
Both embassies were heavily damaged and the Nairobi embassy had to be rebuilt. It is now located across the road from the United Nations Office at Nairobi for security purposes.
A memorial park was constructed on the former embassy site, dedicated on the third anniversary of the attack.[32] Public protest marred the opening ceremony after it was announced that the park, including its wall inscribed with the names of the dead, would not be free to the public.[32]
Within months following the bombings, the United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security added Kenya to its Antiterrorism Assistance Program (ATA), which was originally created in 1983. While the addition was largely a formality to reaffirm U.S. commitment to fighting terrorism in Kenya, it nonetheless sparked the beginning of an active bilateral antiterrorism campaign between the United States and Kenya. The U.S. government also rapidly and permanently increased the monetary aid to Kenya. Immediate changes included a $42 million grant targeted specifically towards Kenyan victims.[33]
Opati v. Republic of Sudan
In 2001, James Owens and others filed a civil lawsuit against Sudan for its role in the attack under the
In October 2020, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would remove Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, after they had agreed to pay $335 million in compensation to the families of victims of the embassy bombings.[39]
Indictment
Following the investigation, an indictment was issued. It charges the following 21 people for various alleged roles in the bombings.[40] 20 of the cases have been resolved.
Name | Disposition |
---|---|
Osama bin Laden | Killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011
|
Muhammad Atef | Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on November 14, 2001 |
Ayman al Zawahiri | Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 31, 2022 |
Saif al Adel | Fugitive |
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[41] |
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah | Killed in Tehran, Iran on August 7, 2020[42][43][44] |
Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah | Killed in Naghar Kalai, Pakistan on April 12, 2006 |
Khalid al Fawwaz | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[45] |
Wadih el Hage | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[46] |
Anas al Libi
|
Died in 2015 while awaiting trial in the United States |
Ibrahim Eidarous | Died in 2008 while under house arrest in the United Kingdom |
Adel Abdel Bari | Served a sentence of 25 years imprisonment in the United States[47] |
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed | Killed in Mogadishu, Somalia by Somali government troops on June 8, 2011 |
Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali | Killed in Pakistan in 2010[48] |
Mohammed Sadeek Odeh | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[49] |
Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[50] |
Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil | Killed in Afghanistan (date of death unknown)[51][52][53] |
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[54] |
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani | Serving a life sentence without parole in the United States[55] |
Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam | Killed in Pakistan on January 1, 2009 |
Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan |
See also
- List of terrorist incidents in 1998
- List of Islamist terrorist attacks
- Terrorism in Kenya
- 1998 World Cup terror plot
References
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External links
- Rewards for Justice – Most Wanted Terrorists
- Transcripts of Sentencing Phase of Embassy Bombers Trial
- Primer on the attacks
- U.S. District Court for DC finds "direct assistance" from Tehran, Sudan and Hezbollah in bombing
- Oral History with Ambassador Prudence Bushnell to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training on the embassy bombings