NAIROBI — 1998 · Major Tragedy

The Nairobi US Embassy Bombing

SolvedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

On the morning of 7 August 1998 a truck bomb exploded outside the US Embassy in central Nairobi. The attack killed 213 people and injured about 4,000; most of the dead were Kenyans, and 12 US citizens were also killed. At almost the same time the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was also attacked. Al-Qaeda was responsible. In 2001 defendants tried in a federal court in New York were convicted and sentenced to life; other defendants were tried in later years. In 2020 Sudan agreed to pay compensation to victims' families for having sheltered the bombers.

Date: 1998
Place: Central Nairobi, Kenya, Nairobi, KE
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Solved
Coordinates: -1.2870, 36.8250 ↗

Timeline of Events

7 August 1998A bomb exploded outside the US Embassy in Nairobi.
2001Defendants in the New York trial were sentenced to life.

2015Another defendant was sentenced to life in New York.
2020Sudan agreed to compensate victims' families.

Sources

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