Kenya: Victims of 1998 bomb attack on US embassy renew demand for compensation

Kenyan survivors and victims of the 1998 bomb attack on the US embassy in Nairobi renewed calls for compensation from the US government on Monday (7 August) as the East African nation marked the 25th anniversary years since its deadliest terror attack.

In mid-morning on 7 August 1998, a car bomb exploded in the rear parking lot of the US embassy in Kenya’s capital city, killing 213 people, injuring around 5,000 — most of them pedestrians or office workers in the adjacent buildings. Minutes later, another explosion rocked the US mission in Dar es Salaam, in neighboring Tanzania. The twin bombings, claimed by al-Qaida, killed a total of 224 people and went on to shape how a generation thinks about personal security.

The terrorist attack resulted in 12 American deaths, but Kenyans bore the worst brunt of the bloodshed, prompting Kenyan senators to revived the push for a compensation amid claims majority of victims will not get anything. After almost two decades of search for justice, the US government announced compensation for American victims at the time of the attack and those naturalized later. Every American victim or family of the US embassy attacks was to receive $3 million, while local staff got $400,000. But a majority of the estimated 5,000 people injured in the twin bombings will not get anything. The Kenyan Senate has formed a nine-member ad-hoc committee to follow up the matter with Washington. This comes as lawyers for the victims begin lobbying American lawmakers to amend a congressionally established terrorism compensation fund and make Kenyan victims and their families eligible.