1998 United States Embassy Bombings — the full case file

A water truck blocked the Dar es Salaam bombers, sparing the embassy from a closer blast. On August 7, 1998, near-simultaneous truck bombs detonated outside the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 220 people, mostly local citizens, and wounding thousands more. On August 7, 1998, Near-simultaneous truck bomb explosions occur at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 220 people. On August 20, 1998, President Bill Clinton orders Operation Infinite Reach, cruise missile strikes on targets in Sudan and Afghanistan, in retaliation for the bombings. In 2001, James Owens and other victims file a civil lawsuit against Sudan under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act over its alleged role in the attacks. In 2004, a court ruling finds foreign nations have sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits under the then-current language of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, hampering the lawsuit. In 2008, Congress amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, allowing retroactive application to existing lawsuits including the Owens case. In 2014, a district court awards plaintiffs in the civil suit over $10 billion; Sudan appeals the judgment. In February 2015, an Egyptian defendant is sentenced to 25 years for the bombings, per contemporaneous New York Times coverage. In May 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Opati v. Republic of Sudan that punitive damages of $4.3 billion may be applied retroactively. In October 2020, President Donald Trump announces the U.S. will remove Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list after Sudan agrees to pay $335 million in compensation to victims' families. The case is recorded as solved. This case file is kept in memory of its five victims and the people they loved. The full sourced case file, with every fact cited, is at casepin dot org.

Transcript from the video’s narration track. For every source, open the case file.