A embaixada dos Estados Unidos de Nairobi depois do atentado
Os ataques terroristas contra as embaixadas dos Estados Unidos na África ocorreram no dia 7 de agosto de 1998 em Nairobi, no Quénia, e em Dar es Salaam, na Tanzânia. Estes ataques, cujos autores estavam ligados aos membros locais da Jihad Islâmica Egípcia de Ayman al-Zawahiri e ao grupo terrorista Al-Qaeda, levaram Osama bin Laden, líder do grupo, a ser incluído na lista dos dez fugitivos mais procurados do FBI.
No ataque à embaixada em Nairóbi, matou pelo menos 213 pessoas, incluindo 12 americanos, e feriu 4.000 a 5.500 pessoas. Na sequência da violenta explosão, foram completamente destruídos vários grandes edifícios no centro da cidade e houve um enfraquecimento da economia do Quénia.
Em resposta aos acontecimentos, em 20 de agosto de 1998, foi realizado a Operação Infinite Reach, através de um ataque de mísseis de um cruzador da Marinha dos Estados Unidos a campos de treino da Al-Qaeda no Afeganistão e a destruição uma fábrica farmacêutica no Sudão, na sequência de suspeitas de que a fábrica Al-Shifa estava produzindo armas químicas e era controlada pelo terrorista Osama bin Laden.
Juntamente com o ataque terrorista ao World Trade Center, em 1993, o bombardeamento das Torres Khobar, na Arábia Saudita, e do ataque ao USS Cole no Iémen, os ataques a embaixadas norte-americanas na África fazem parte dos ataques anti-EUA de importância que precederam os ataques terroristas de 11 de setembro de 2001.
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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 20 August 1998, announcing the planned strike in a prime time address on American television.
In Sudan, the missiles destroyed the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory,
where 50% of Sudan's medications for both people and animals were
manufactured. The Clinton administration claimed that there was ample
evidence to prove that the plant produced chemical weapons, but a
thorough investigation after the missile strikes revealed that the
intelligence was false.
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1189 condemning the attacks on the embassies.
Both embassies were heavily damaged and the Nairobi embassy had to be
rebuilt. It is now located across the road from the office of the World Food Programme
for security purposes. A few months after the attacks and subsequent
American missile strikes in Afghanistan, the American energy company Unocal withdrew its plans for a gas pipeline through Afghanistan.
Within months following the bombings, the United States Department of StateBureau 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.
Following the investigation, an indictment was issued. It charges the
following 21 people for various alleged roles the bombings.
| Name | Disposition |
|---|---|
| Osama bin Laden | Killed in Abottabad, Pakistan on 2 May 2011 |
| Muhammad Atef | Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on 14 November 2001 |
| Ayman al Zawahiri | Fugitive |
| Saif al Adel | Fugitive |
| Mamdouh Mahmud Salim | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah | Fugitive |
| Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah | Killed in Naghar Kalai, Pakistan on 12 April 2006 |
| Khalid al Fawwaz | Awaiting trial in the United States |
| Wadih el Hage | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Anas al Libi | Awaiting trial in the United States |
| Ibrahim Eidarous | Died in 2008 while under house arrest in the United Kingdom |
| Adel Abdel Bari | Awaiting trial in the United States |
| Fazul Abdullah Mohammed | Killed in Mogadishu, Somalia by Somali government troops on 8 June 2011 |
| Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali | Killed in Pakistan in 2010 |
| Mohammed Sadeek Odeh | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil | Killed in Afghanistan |
| Khalfan Khamis Mohamed | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani | Serving sentence of life imprisonment in the United States |
| Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam | Killed in Pakistan on 1 January 2009 |
| Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan | Killed in Pakistan on 1 January 2009 |
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