Operation Infinite Reach was a US cruise missile strike on terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.

The missiles were launched from US warships in the Red Sea. Several hit the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which the United States claimed was helping Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the embassy attacks, build chemical weapons. Later investigation into this matter revealed the facility probably was not making such weapons, and instead was making medicines for the Sudanese people.

About 75 cruise missiles landed in Afghanistan, where bin Laden's al-Qaida group was believed to have camps. About 20 people died in the Afghan strikes, and dozens were wounded in Sudan.

President Bill Clinton announced the attacks in a TV address, saying the target was terror. Some, however, saw this as a way of attracting attention away from the Lewinsky scandal.

The president of the Sudan harshly condemned the assault on his country, as did the Taliban in Afghanistan. Massive protests were staged around the world, mostly in Muslim countries, denouncing the attacks and the aggressive ways of the US. In retaliation for the attacks, a Muslim organization bombed a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa on August 25, killing two and injuring 26. Osama bin Laden also pledged to attack the US again. [1]

External Links

• Coverage of the Attacks
• President Clinton's speech, August 20 1998