Here’s a look at the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people. Terrorist group al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombings.
Facts:
The bombings took place eight years to the day after U.S. troops were ordered to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden considered the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a grave offense.
More than 20 people have been indicted in the United States for the bombings. Eight are currently serving prison terms.
Timeline:
August 7, 1998 – Almost simultaneously, bombs explode at U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people. More than 5,000 are wounded. Twelve of those killed in Kenya are U.S. citizens.
August 20, 1998 – The United States launches cruise missiles at suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, in retaliation for the embassy bombings.
August 27, 1998 – U.S. officials charge Yemeni citizen Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-‘Owhali with 12 counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in connection with the embassy bombing in Kenya.
August 28, 1998 – U.S. officials charge Mohammed Saddiq Odeh with 12 counts of murder one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Odeh claims that the bombings were orchestrated by al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden.
September 1998 – Suspect Wadih el Hage is arrested in Arlington, Texas. El Hage has previously worked for Osama bin Laden in Sudan as a personal secretary. El Hage is initially charged with perjury and later with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens.
September 16, 1998 – Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, reportedly a founding member of al Qaeda, is arrested in Munich, Germany. He is later extradited to the United States and charged in the embassy bombings. As of 2015, he is still awaiting trial.
November 4, 1998 – U.S. officials indict Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda military chief Muhammad Atef on 224 counts of murder for the embassy bombings. The State Department offers a $5 million reward for information leading to bin Laden’s arrest or conviction.
July 11, 1999 – Suspects Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous and Adel Abdul Bary are arrested in London.
October 1999 – Suspect Khalfan Khamis Mohamed is arrested in South Africa and extradited to the United States.
October 20, 2000 – Former U.S. Army Sergeant Ali Mohamed pleads guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges in connection to the embassy bombings. He had admitted in court to visiting the Nairobi embassy in the 1990s to assess its potential as a target for a terrorist attack.
November 1, 2000 – Mamdouh Mahmud Salim stabs a prison guard in the eye with a sharpened comb, causing serious brain damage.
May 29, 2001 – A jury in New York finds Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-‘Owhali and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed guilty of murder in the embassy bombings. Two other defendants, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh and Wadih el Hage are convicted of conspiracy.
September 11, 2001 – The deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history takes place when 19 men hijack four U.S. commercial airliners. The plot is orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. A total of 2,977 people are killed at the World Trade Center in New York; at the Pentagon in Washington, DC; and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
October 18, 2001 – U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand formally sentences Mohamed al-‘Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Mohamed Odeh and Wadih el Hage to life in prison without parole.
March 3, 2003 – The United States opens a new, fortified embassy on the outskirts of Nairobi.
May 3, 2004 – Mamdouh Mahmud Salim is sentenced to 32 years in prison for the 2000 attack on prison guard Louis Pepe.
July 2008 – Suspect Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous dies under house arrest in Great Britain, while fighting extradition to the United States.
November 24, 2008 – The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the convictions of al-‘Owhali, el Hage and Odeh. The court also rules that el Hage is eligible for resentencing.
August 31, 2010 – Mamdouh Mahmud Salim is resentenced to life in prison.
January 25, 2011 – Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be tried in U.S. civilian court, is sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the embassy bombings.
May 2, 2011 – Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Special Forces in a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
October 5, 2012 – Suspects Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary are extradited to the United States from Great Britain.
April 23, 2013 – Wadih el Hage is resentenced to life in prison.
October 5, 2013 – Suspect Abu Anas al Libi is captured in Tripoli, Libya.
September 19, 2014 – Adel Abdul Bary pleads guilty to conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and charges relating to making threats.
January 2, 2015 – Abu Anas al Libi dies in custody, before his trial begins.
January 22, 2015 – The trial of Khaled al-Fawwaz begins in New York. He is accused of setting up an al Qaeda media office in London in the 1990s and facilitating conversations among members which led to the 1998 bombings.
February 6, 2015 – Adel Abdul Bary is sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts, including conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad.
February 26, 2015 – Khaled al-Fawwaz is convicted on conspiracy charges.
May 15, 2015 – Khaled al-Fawwaz is sentenced to life in prison.