The August 7, 1998, terrorist attacks at the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were carried out by al-Qaida and resulted in 224 deaths, including 56 U.S. government employees and contractors, and over 4,500 injuries.

The loss was enormous: More than 200 innocent people lost their lives, and thousands were injured, in simultaneous terrorist attacks aimed at two U.S. embassies. U.S. Embassy Nairobi, in a vulnerable downtown location with high-rise buildings, suffered the most. At U.S. Embassy Dar- es -, in a suburban location with low-rise buildings, 11 people died and more than 85 were injured.

The deaths included American, Kenyan, and Tanzanian Foreign Service personnel doing what the Foreign Service does every day: promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing a broad range of U.S. interests in countries all over the world.
Twenty-five years later, the trauma of that experience still haunts the survivors and the families of those who died or were injured. Some still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. There are those who may be able to achieve psychological closure by putting such a tragic experience behind them, but for many of us the intense events of Aug. 7, 1998, are seared into our memories and cannot be forgotten or minimized.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will deliver remarks at the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on Monday, August 7, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. EDT at the Department of State’s National Museum of American Diplomacy.

The annual event is held to remember those who lost their lives in the twin blasts that hit the two East African nations. Both embassies were heavily damaged and the Nairobi embassy had to be rebuilt. It is now located across the road from the United Nations Office in Nairobi. A memorial park was constructed on the former embassy site, dedicated on the third anniversary of the attack.

The Senate Ad-hoc committee pushing for the compensation of the victims will today attend a commemoration service at the Memorial Park in Nairobi. US Ambassador Meg Whitman is expected to grace the event.

By Abigael Chemok