Attacks on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania

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On August 7, 1998, two U.S. embassies were attacked almost simultaneously. One was in Nairobi, Kenya and the other in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attack in Kenya involved both a truck bomb and at least two suicide bombers. The truck was at the back entrance of the embassy when the bomb went off, and the damage was critical. This attack had more casualties than the bombing in Tanzania because the truck that contained the bomb was able to get into the inner embassy compound. Also, the Nairobi embassy was close to the center of the city which was more populated and led to more deaths. The U.S. embassy was not the only building affected in the explosion. The Ufundi building and the Cooperative Bank which were close by were both severely damaged. Windows from as far as ten blocks away were even shattered.
Around the same time as the explosion in Kenya, a car drove into the residential quarters of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. A few seconds later, the vehicle had exploded and destroyed the entrance to the quarters. Parts of the building came off, and cars surrounding the building caught on fire. Trees were falling in every direction, and almost the whole building was destroyed. The embassy of Tanzania was located farther from the city, so there weren’t as many casualties. The bomb also had trouble penetrating the outer part of the wall because a water tanker had blocked its path.

There were many victims all together from both of these attacks. In the Kenya bombing, 247 people were killed including 12 Americans. More than 4,000 others were wounded. The bombing of the embassy in Tanzania killed 12 people, none of which were American, and injured 85 others. Hundreds of people volunteered to pull victims out of the rubble. Even people w...

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...twork of radical groups affiliated with and funded by Osama Bin Laden.” He vowed retribution and promised that no matter how long it takes, we will bring those who are responsible to justice. Clinton retaliated with Operation Infinite Reach by sending cruise missiles to Afghanistan camps. They had reason to believe that Bin Laden was staying there. They also received information linking him to a pharmaceutical factory near the camps called Al-Shifa. They claimed they had evidence that chemical weapons were being produced there. This information was later proven to be false. At least 20 people were killed in these attacks with the exception of their main target who was Bin Laden. In response to these U.S. strikes, many Muslim nations started protesting, but that did not stop our retaliation. It wasn’t until about 13 years later that he was brought to justice.

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