1998 United States embassy bombings

1998 United States embassy bombings
Location Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nairobi, Kenya
Coordinates 1°17′S 36°49′E / 1.283°S 36.817°E / -1.283; 36.817 and 6°48′S 39°17′E / 6.800°S 39.283°E / -6.800; 39.283
Date August 7, 1998
10:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. EAT (UTC+3)
Target United States embassies
Attack type
 Truck bombs
Deaths 224
Non-fatal injuries
 More than 4,000
Perpetrators al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad

The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which over 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the other at the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.[1]

The attacks, which were linked to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, brought Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and their terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, to the attention of the American public for the first time, and resulted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) placing bin Laden on its ten most-wanted fugitives list. The FBI also connected the attack to Azerbaijan, as 60 calls were placed via satellite phone by bin Laden to associates in the country's capital Baku.[2] Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah were credited for being the masterminds behind the bombings.[3][4][5]

Motivation and preparation

The bombings are widely believed to have been revenge for American involvement in the extradition, and alleged torture, of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) who had been arrested in Albania for an alleged series of murders in Egypt in the two months prior to the attacks.[6] 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.[7] The following month, a communique was issued warning the United States that a "response" was being prepared to "repay" them for their interference.[8][9] However, the 9/11 Commission Report claims that preparations began shortly after bin Laden issued his February 1998 fatwa.[10]

A Nissan Atlas truck, similar to that used in Dar es-Salaam

According to journalist Lawrence Wright, the Nairobi operation was named after the Holy Kaaba in Mecca; the Dar es Salaam bombing was called Operation al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, but "neither had an obvious connection to the American embassies in Africa. Bin Laden initially said that the sites had been targeted because of the 'invasion' of Somalia; then he described an American plan to partition Sudan, which he said was hatched in the embassy in Nairobi. He also told his followers that the genocide in Rwanda had been planned inside the two American embassies." Wright concludes that bin Laden's actual goal was "to lure the United States into Afghanistan, which had long been called 'The Graveyard of Empires.'"[11]

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.[12]

In June 1998, KK Mohamed rented House 213 in the Illala district of Dar es Salaam, about four miles (6 km) from the US Embassy. A white Suzuki Samurai was used to haul bomb components hidden in rice sacks, to House 213.[13]

In both Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Mohammed Odeh supervised construction of two very large, 900 kg destructive devices. The Nairobi bomb was made of 400 to 500 cylinders of TNT (about the size of drinks cans), ammonium nitrate, aluminium powder and detonating cord. The explosives were packed into twenty specially designed wooden crates that were sealed and then placed in the bed of the trucks. Mushin Musa Matwalli Atwah ran a wire from the bomb to a set of batteries in the back of the truck cab and then to a detonator switch beneath the dashboard.[12] The Dar es Salaam bomb was of slightly different construction: the TNT was attached to fifteen oxygen tanks and gas canisters, and was surrounded with four bags of ammonium nitrate fertiliser and some sand bags to tamp and direct the blast.[14]

The bombings were scheduled for August 7, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American troops in Saudi Arabia during the early stages of the Persian Gulf War, likely a choice by Osama bin Laden.[15]

Attacks and casualties

Wreckage from the Nairobi bombing

On August 7, between 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. local time (3:30–3:40 a.m. EST), suicide bombers in trucks laden with explosives parked outside the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and almost simultaneously detonated.[16] 213 people were killed in the Nairobi blast, while 11 were killed in Dar es Salaam.[17] An estimated 4,000 in Nairobi were wounded, and another 85 in Dar es Salaam. Seismological readings analysed after the bombs indicated energy of between 3–17 tons of high explosive material.[18] 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,[19] including two Central Intelligence Agency employees in the Nairobi embassy, Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy,[20] and one U.S. Marine, Sergeant Jesse Aliganga, a Marine Security Guard at the Nairobi embassy.[21][22] U.S. Army Sergeant Kenneth R. Hobson II was one of the 12 Americans killed in the attack.

While Azzam drove the Toyota Dyna quickly toward the Nairobi embassy along with Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali,[23] 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.[24] 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.[23] As Bwaku radioed to Marine Post One for backup, the truck detonated.[24]

The explosion damaged the embassy building and collapsed the neighbouring Ufundi Building where most victims were killed, mainly students and staff of a secretarial college housed here. The heat from the blast was channelled between the buildings towards Haile Selassie Avenue where a packed commuter bus was burned. Windows were shattered in a radius of nearly 1 kilometre. 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.

Meanwhile, the Atlas truck in Dar es Salaam was being driven by Hamden Khalif Allah Awad, known as "Ahmed the German" due to his blonde hair, a former camp trainer who had arrived in the country only a few days earlier.[12] The death toll was less than in Nairobi as the US embassy was located outside the city center on Bagamoyo Road on a large plot with no immediate neighbours close to the gate where the explosion occurred.

Following the attacks, a group calling itself the "Liberation Army for Holy Sites" took credit for the bombings. American investigators believe the term was a cover used by Egyptian Islamic Jihad, who had actually perpetrated the bombing.[25]

Aftermath and international response

Memorial at the site of the embassy in Nairobi, 2007

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 American television.

The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1189 condemning the attacks on the embassies.[26]

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.

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 America'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 US Government also rapidly and permanently increased the monetary aid to Kenya. Immediate changes included a $42 million grant targeted specifically towards Kenyan victims.[27]

Indictment

Memorial in Dar es Salaam

Following the investigation, an indictment was issued. It charges the following 21 people for various alleged roles in the bombings.[28] 18 of the cases have been settled.

Name Disposition
Bin Laden, OsamaOsama bin Laden Killed in Abottabad, Pakistan on 2 May 2011
Atef, MuhammadMuhammad Atef Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on 14 November 2001
Zawahiri, AymanAyman al Zawahiri Fugitive
Adel, SaifSaif al Adel Fugitive
Salim, Mamdouh MahmudMamdouh Mahmud Salim Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[29]
Abdullah, Abdullah AhmedAbdullah Ahmed Abdullah Fugitive
Atwah, Muhsin Musa MatwalliMuhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah Killed in Naghar Kalai, Pakistan on 12 April 2006
Fawwaz, KhalidKhalid al Fawwaz Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[30]
Hage, WadihWadih el Hage Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[31]
Libi, AnasAnas al Libi Died in 2015 while awaiting trial in the United States
Eidarous, IbrahimIbrahim Eidarous Died in 2008 while under house arrest in the United Kingdom
Bari, Adel AbdelAdel Abdel Bari Serving sentence of 25 years imprisonment in the United States[32]
Mohammed, Fazul AbdullahFazul Abdullah Mohammed Killed in Mogadishu, Somalia by Somali government troops on 8 June 2011
Ali, Ahmed Mohammed HamedAhmed Mohammed Hamed Ali Killed in Pakistan in 2010[33]
Odeh, Mohammed SadeekMohammed Sadeek Odeh Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[34]
Owhali, Mohamed Rashed DaoudMohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[35]
Fadhil, Mustafa MohamedMustafa Mohamed Fadhil Killed in Afghanistan.[36][37][38]
Mohamed, Khalfan KhamisKhalfan Khamis Mohamed Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[39]
Ghailani, Ahmed KhalfanAhmed Khalfan Ghailani Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States[40]
Msalam, Fahid Mohammed AllyFahid Mohammed Ally Msalam Killed in Pakistan on 1 January 2009
Swedan, Sheikh Ahmed SalimSheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan Killed in Pakistan on 1 January 2009

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://hir.harvard.edu/religion/lifting-the-veil?page=0,1
  2. ↑ "Book Review: 'Mercenaries, Extremists, and Islamist Fighters in Karabagh War". Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Bennett, Brian (12 June 2011). "Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed in Somalia". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ↑ "Al-Qaida timeline: Plots and attacks – World news – Hunt for Al-Qaeda | NBC News". MSNBC. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Читать онлайн "The Black Banners" автора Soufan Ali H. - RuLit - Страница 83".
  6. ↑ Mayer, Jane (2008). The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals. New York: Doubleday. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-385-52639-5.
  7. ↑ Advocate, Victoria (13 August 1998). "Bombings connect to mysterious arrests".
  8. ↑ "Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Mahmoud Jaballah" (Pdf). Canadian Security Intelligence Service. February 22, 2008.
  9. ↑ Higgins, Andrew (November 20, 2001). "A CIA-Backed Team Used Brutal Means to Crack Terror Cell". Wall Street Journal.
  10. ↑ 9/11 Commission Report p. 69
  11. ↑ Wright, Lawrence (2006). Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Knopf. p. 272. ISBN 0-375-41486-X.
  12. 1 2 3 Benjamin, Daniel; Simon, Steven (2002). The Age of Sacred Terror. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50859-7.
  13. ↑ Hamm, Mark (2007). Terrorism As Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond. NYU Press. p. 65. ISBN 9780814737453. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Hamm, Mark S. (2007). Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond. NYU Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8147-3696-8. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  15. ↑ Gunaratna, Rohan (2002). Inside Al Qaeda. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-231-12692-1.
  16. ↑ "U.S. Embassy Bombings". U.S. Department of State website. Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Frontline: The trail of evidence - FBI executive summary". PBS.org. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Some Practical Applications of Forensic Seismology" (PDF). Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  19. ↑ "Profiles of Americans killed in Kenya embassy bombing". CNN.com. August 13, 1998. Archived from the original on 16 December 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  20. ↑ Associated Press, "Bin Laden raid avenged secret CIA deaths", Japan Times, May 30, 2011, p. 1.
  21. ↑ Jesse Nathanael Aliganga
  22. ↑ "Fil-Am hero guard killed in Nairobi". highbeam.com.
  23. 1 2 Ressa, Maria (2003). Seeds of Terror. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-5133-4.
  24. 1 2 Katz, Samuel M. (2002). Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists. New York: Forge/Tom Doherty. ISBN 0-7653-0402-3.
  25. ↑ Global Briefings, Issue 27, "Osama bin Laden tied to other Fundamentalists", September 1998.
  26. ↑ "Security Council strongly condemns terrorist bomb attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on August 7". United Nations. 13 August 1998.
  27. ↑ "United States Aid to Kenya: Regional Security and Counterterrorism". Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  28. ↑ "United States v. Osama bin Laden, et al." (PDf). (indictment). Provided by the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
  29. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '42426-054'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  30. ↑ "Ex-Bin Laden aide sentenced to life in embassy bombings". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  31. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '42393-054'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  32. ↑ "Egyptian Gets 25-Year Term in 1998 Embassy Bombings; Judge Calls Plea Deal Generous". NYTimes.com. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  33. ↑ Miller, Greg (21 February 2010). "Increased U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan killing few high-value militants". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  34. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '42375-054'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  35. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '42371-054'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  36. ↑ http://www.makingsenseofjihad.com/2009/10/a-study-of-martyrs-in-a-time-of-alienation-xvii.html
  37. ↑ http://americanjihadists.com/2008-12-Ghailani-Interrogation-all.pdf
  38. ↑ "JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Majid Abdu Ahmed" (PDF).
  39. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '44623-054'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  40. ↑ "Inmate Locator search for register number '02476-748'". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 8 December 2012.

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