On August 7 , 1998 , al Qaeda terrorists detonated a car bomb outside the United States embassy in Nairobi , Kenya , leaving 200 dead and thousands wounded . The immediate aftermath strained relations between the United States and Kenya , as Kenyans felt that the United States only cared about the Americans who lost their lives , not the Kenyans . The situation was worsened when the American ambassador , Prudence Bushnell , implied that Kenyans were attempting to loot the embassy
detonated a car bomb
1998 United States embassy bombings
Kenya–United States relations