1998 US Embassy bombings

The 1998 United States Embassy bombings were a series of terrorist attacks that took place on 7 August 1998, during which 224 people were killed when truck bombs were detonated at the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. The attacks were planned and executed by Al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad as revenge for the extradition and alleged torture of Egyptian Islamic Jihad members. The attack lead to Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atef being placed on the USA's Wanted Terrorists list.

Preparation

In the lead-up to the attack, Al-Qaeda issued a fatwa justifying the murder of American citizens for the Islamic cause. Soon after, bin Laden made a speech to his followers claiming that the American government planned the Partition of Sudan inside the US Embassy in Nairobi, and that they had secretly executed the Rwandan Genocide, the planning for which, he claimed, took place inside the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. Over the course of several months, two large explosives were constructed in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi by Mushin Musa Matwalli Atwah, in an operation overseen by Mohammed Odeh.

Attack

On 7 August 1998, two trucks containing the explosives were dispatched in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. A suicide bomber known only by the name Azzam drove his truck towards the Nairobi embassy, along with Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, who shouted at security guard Benson Okuku Bwaku to open the gate and fired at him when he refused to comply. After the gates were opened, Al-Owhali threw a stun grenade at embassy guards before jumping out of the car and running away just before Azzam detonated the bomb, killing himself and 213 others in the embassy and the neighbouring Ufundi Building.

Meanwhile in Dar es Salaam, suicide bomber Hamden Khalif Allah Awad drove a second truck into the embassy, but was prevented from getting close enough by a water truck that blocked his way. After being prevented from entering, Awad blew himself up, killing 11 people.

A group known as "The Liberation Army for Holy Sites" claimed responsibility, however investigators concluded that it was a pseudonym for the real attackers, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, who had planned the bombings as a revenge attack in conjunction with Al-Qaeda. Twenty-one indictments were released for the attack, including for bin Laden, Atef, al-Zawahiri, Odeh, Atwah and Al-Owhali. As of 2022, all 21 individuals are either dead or in custody, with the exception of Saif al-Adel.