Harare — Survivors of the terrorist assault in Nairobi on August 7, 1998, are unlikely to get any compensation from the U.S. government after it maintained it had already paid them and put policies in place to combat terrorism in Kenya, The East African reports.
This comes in the midst of renewed efforts to get compensation for the Kenyan survivors. The attack, which resulted in more than 200 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries, occurred 25 years ago this year. Twelve Americans died as a consequence of the attack, and the diplomatic building sustained significant damage.
"The terrorist attacks against our embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania claimed 224 innocent victims and injured more than 4,500 others," the US Embassy-Nairobi spokesperson said.
On the matter of compensation from the U.S, then president Donald Trump informed Sudan in 2020 that it needs to pay U.S.$335 million (Ksh46.9 billion) in restitution if the country wants to be removed from the list of states supporting terrorism. Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the funds had been transferred, a decision confirmed by the U.S. in 2021.
The funds for survivors and victims' families from attacks such as the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which was supported by Sudan's then-leader, Omar al-Bashir, were provided by Khartoum's then-transitional, civilian-backed administration.
The bombing in Nairobi was linked to al-Qaida by the FBI.
