1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Kenya

Atrocities awaken memories of 1998 bombing

President Daniel arap Moi condemned the US attacks, saying that terrorism could never be the basis for the solution of any conflict. Kenya, where the US embassy was bombed in a terrorist attack in August 1998, also put security forces countrywide, and particularly at vital installations, countrywide on high alert following Tuesday’s attacks in the US, local media reported. Security was beefed up at government offices, airports, power generating stations, oil refineries, the Department of Defence, police stations and other areas. A senior government official said the police were instructed to be on the look-out for any trouble. A task force was set up on Tuesday night to assist Kenyans in getting information about relatives in the US.

However, some Kenyans who felt that the US should pay compensation for the injuries they suffered in the 1998 bombing in Nairobi would be watching closely how US victims were treated, the BBC reported. “Maybe the Americans will now get a taste of what we went through,” it quoted Consolata Wanjiru Mugo, who was injured in the Kenyan blast, as saying. “They will feel what it was like as innocent people to be attacked in this way. It will be quite interesting to see how they treat their own people, compared to the way they have treated us.”


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join