On the 25th anniversary of the devastating al-Qaeda attack on the American embassy in Nairobi in 1998, survivors and relatives of victims resumed their demand for reparations from the US government on Monday.

A huge explosion ripped through the American Embassy in the heart of Nairobi on August 7, 1998. The majority of the 213 killed and over 5,000 injured were bystanders or office workers in buildings close to the embassy, where 44 people were murdered, including 12 Americans.

A few minutes later, another attack targeted the American diplomatic mission in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In the presence of Kenyan and American authorities, families of victims and survivors of the Nairobi attack repeated their requests for compensation on Monday during a ceremony conducted on the grounds of the former embassy.

Anisa Mwilu, who lost her husband in the attack, stated, “This incident is still fresh” in people’s minds. “What we can ask for is compensation, and that’s what we’re asking for today,” she added, to applause from the hundreds of people in the audience.

Caroline Muthoka, a Victims’ Consortium member, slammed the “injustice of the US government” in failing to approve financial compensation, and urged the US Congress to establish legislation covering “medical expenses” and “our children’s education.”

Redempta Kadenge Amisi was in the offices of the Ufundi structure, a structure next to the embassy that was completely damaged by the explosion, on the morning of the attack.

“I was on the fourth floor, and the three people I was with were killed instantly,” the 80-year-old woman, who is now in a wheelchair due to the attack’s aftereffects, tells AFP.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but my back was on fire, and I spent four weeks in the hospital.” But, despite the fact that I have to take medications morning and night, I have received nothing since the incident. But I’m still hoping for some,” she said.

The names of the victims of the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam assaults were read aloud to a weeping throng at the ceremony, and candles were lighted in their honor.

The Kenyan bombing was the first of a series of strikes. The bloodiest attacks occurred in 2013 at the Westgate retail mall in Nairobi (67 people were killed), 2015 at Garissa University (148 people were killed), and 2019 at the Dusit hotel complex in Nairobi (21 people were killed).