Kenya remembers 20th anniversary of US embassies bombings

It is 20 years since 7 August bombings at the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. More than 200 lives were lost, most of them Kenyans in the tragedy.

Survivors of the attack as well as relatives of those who died held a memorial service in Nairobi. At a solemn ceremony, Kenya, which sent troops to Somalia in 2011, vowed to continue taking the war against terrorism to the doorsteps of terrorists.

One by one, the names of those who perished in one of the worst terror incidents in East Africa were called out. It has been 20 years but memories are still fresh and for many, the scars remain.

Survivor Julie Ogoye lost sight in her left eye. Many at the memorial lost their loved ones, their livelihoods and some the ability to work again.

They have agreed to shed off the bitterness and start afresh.

“I realised that anger and bitterness only but detaches healing so I started picking up the pieces and accepted my blindness as a challenge,” says another survivor Douglas Sidialo.

Despite the sorrow, a resolve was taken to stand hand in hand in the fight against terrorism.

“We say clearly and loudly that although we have suffered, we are not beaten, and we will never let those who traffic death and destruction defeat us,” says US Ambassador in Kenya Robert Godec.

Kenya’s Special Envoy on Counter Terrorism says: “The threat remains requiring continued vigilance but our determined efforts have fundamentally blunted the ability of terrorist actors to destroy our social and religious life.”

Kenya has since the August 7 bombings suffered several terror attacks but the government says it is better prepared to counter violent extremism and acts of terror than that Friday morning 20 years ago.

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