On this day: On 7 August 1998, a truck exploded outside the US Embassy in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. More than 200 people died in this.
A fire broke out after the blast outside the US embassy (File Photo)
America has continued its campaign against terrorism for several decades. This is the reason why his establishments remain on target of terrorists. A similar incident of targeting American installations came to light on this day in Kenya and Tanzania. On August 7, 1998, a truck exploded outside the US embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Shortly after this, a huge truck explosion took place outside the US embassy in Dar-e-Salaam, neighboring Tanzania. The twin terrorist attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 4,500.
America considered the dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden to be the mastermind of the blasts. On August 20, then-President Bill Clinton ordered the launch of cruise missiles against bin Laden’s terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. The United States had been looking for bin Laden since the 1993 World Trade Center attack. Bin Laden reached Afghanistan after a long time and started funding the Taliban who were ruling the country till then. He declared war on the Americans in Afghanistan.
Embassies in East Africa were bombed
Osama bin Laden was a Saudi citizen and did not like the deployment of American troops in the Kingdom at all. On August 7, 1998, two US embassies in East Africa were bombed to mark eight years of US troops’ presence in Saudi Arabia. The attack on the Nairobi embassy located in a busy area of the city resulted in the death of a large number of people. There the embassy was destroyed due to the explosion of 2000 pounds of TNT. A nearby 17-storey cooperative bank was also destroyed. 213 people died in this attack, in which 12 Americans were also killed. Thousands of people were also injured. At the same time, 11 people died in the blast in Dar-e-Salaam, while 85 people were injured.
American negligence before the attacks also came to the fore
It is worth noting here that until 1997, American intelligence officials knew that bin Laden’s henchmen were active in East Africa. But even after this the attack on the embassy could not be stopped. Intelligence officials also received information about a possible attack on the Nairobi embassy. But failed to increase security before the attack. US Ambassador to Kenya Prudence Bushnell independently asked the State Department to relocate the Nairobi embassy because of its exposed location. But his request was not accepted. After the attacks, there was a lot of controversy about the risk of US embassies located abroad.
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