The Bombing of U.S Embassies in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi … 28 Years Later

The 1998 United States embassy bombings in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, occurred simultaneously on August 7, 1998, at approximately 10:30 AM local time.

It was believed that the al-Qaeda terrorists detonated massive truck bombs packed with about 2,000 pounds of TNT outside the diplomatic buildings.

Suicide bombers parked trucks loaded with explosives outside each embassy and almost simultaneously detonated the explosives.

At the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, approximately 212 people were killed and an estimated 4,000 wounded.

John E. Lange was serving as Charge d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy Dar Es Salaam on August 7, 1998.

Lange remembered to have felt a deep rumble before an explosion rocked his office, shattering windows that flew like blades above his head in what he described as slow motion. Miraculously, he and the others in the room suffered only superficial injuries.

At the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 11 people were killed by the blast while over 85 others were injured.

Essentially more than 220 people were reportedly killed in the two blasts, with the majority of the victims being Kenyans, the death toll also included several Americans.

The vast majority of the victims were local citizens who were either inside the facilities, applying for Visas or in the neighboring downtown buildings and maybe just walking on the busy streets.

In the aftermath of the attacks, over 900 agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations traveled overseas to assist in the recovery of evidence and the identification of victims at the bomb sites and to track down the perpetrators.

The attacks were later reported to have been orchestrated by al-Qaeda, bringing the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden to global prominence for the first time.

Operations chiefs Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah were identified as the main planners.

Mohammed Sadeek Odeh and Mohammed Rashed Daoud al-Owhali were arrested in Kenya within 20 days of the bombings and rendered to the U.S. shortly thereafter. Both were convicted for their roles in the bombing and sentenced to life in prison in October 2001.

In September 1998, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim was arrested in Germany. He is currently serving a life sentence for stabbing a federal corrections officer in the eye while in prison after being charged in the embassy attacks.

Also in September 1998, Wadih el-Hage—a naturalized American citizen who had been living in Arlington, Texas—was arrested by the FBI for making false statements during questioning. After being indicted for his role in the bombings, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2001.

On November 4, 1998, Osama Bin Laden and several members of his network, including his military commander Muhammad Atef, were named in an indictment based on the investigation.

Both have since been killed.

All told, more than 20 people have been charged in connection with the bombings. Seven are serving life sentences in U.S. prison.

The KENBOM and TANBOM investigations—as the FBI calls them—represented at that time the largest deployment in Bureau history.

They led to ramped up anti-terror efforts by the United States and by the FBI, including an expanded Bureau overseas presence that can quickly respond to acts of terrorism that involve Americans.

The East African attacks seem to have been a prelude because three years later, the twin towers in New York were destroyed by attacks from Al-Qaeda.