Thread by @Owaahh

On a day like tomorrow, 20 years ago, a Friday, all hell broke loose just after 10 a.m. Two singular, coordinated terror attacks in KE and TZ cost hundreds of lives and injured many more. It was like the world was broken in two, but we survived. And thrived.
#iSurvived98

Before August 7th 1998, the worst terror attack in KE was the 1980 Norfolk bombing which killed 20 people and injured tens of others. It was retaliation for KE allowing Israel to refuel during Operation Entebbe (there were other 'reasons' as well)
#iSurvived98

The choice of August 7th (for the terrorists) was significant. It was eight years from the day US troops established their presence in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.
#iSurvived98

It's hard to pinpoint just when AL Qaeda chose Nairobi and Dar as its targets, bringing the war to our doorstep. OBL had lived and thrived in Sudan for a while, and terror cells were active in E. Africa from as early as 1993/4.
#iSurvived98
@MemorialParkKe

The viciousness (and coordination) of the attacks was the work of Mohammed Atef, OBL's #2 who only got the role two years before when Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri drowned in L. Victoria after MV Bukoba sank.
#iSurvived98

When the terrorists drove the truck from Runda to the US Embassy's rear gate, they unsuccessfully tried to pass the security guards. So they tried to ram the gate and blew up the truck.
#iSurvived98

The earth trembled, a building crumbled, and windows in a 1km radius shattered. People and matatus were tossed in the air, and KE was never the same again.
#iSurvived98

One of the most heartbreaking stories of the aftermath is the unsuccessful attempt to save Rose Wanjiku 'the Candle in the Wind' who was at the bottom of the rubble that was once Ufundi House.
#iSurvived98
@MemorialParkKe

Wanjiku was a messenger/tea woman at Ufundi House. She survived for about 36 hours after the bombing, tapping on the rubble above her to direct rescuers to her location. By the time they got to her, she had died. She was the last body to be retrieved.
#iSurvived98

There were many heroes that day. Doctors, cops, soldiers, rescuers and civilians. For the entire weekend, they worked non-stop to rescue those still left in the rubble, and got them medical attention. In the end the death toll stood at 213, 200 of them Kenyans.
#iSurvived98

Keen doctors also aided the investigation that followed, being the first to notice that Al-Owhali's injuries were on his back (he had forgotten his pistol when he exited the truck, so he threw stun grenades and fled the scene).
#iSurvived98

The capture of Al-Owhali in Nairobi on August 12th 1998 was the start of a tumultuous journey for justice for those who died or got injured during the bombing. He is currently serving life without parole at ADX Florence.
#iSurvived98
@MemorialParkKe

Have you ever visited @MemorialParkKe, at the corner of Haile Selassie and Moi Avenues?

The last person to be rescued alive was Sammy Ng'ang'a, a scrap metal dealer who was in the banking hall at Ufundi House when the stun grenades went off. He ran out, only for the bigger bomb to detonate, bringing the building down upon him.
#iSurvived98
@MemorialParkKe

@MemorialParkKe An aerial view of @MemorialParkKe. It features a park, a fountain, a memorial wall, and a peace center, all designed to commemorate and honor the victims of the August '98 bombing.

@MemorialParkKe One of the 12 Americans who died that day was CIA agent Molly Hardy, a finance specialist and a new grandmother cia.gov/news-informati…

@MemorialParkKe Other than the memorial park, have we done enough to remember the loss, pain and suffering?
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Contested memorialization: the 1998 Nairobi terror attack on the United States embassy: World Art: Vol 0, No 0 tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

@MemorialParkKe NARRATING TRAUMA AS MODERNITY: Kenyan Artists and the American Embassy Bombing - ProQuest search.proquest.com/openview/a53f1…