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for orders to "instantly" transmit them to Al Quds al Arabi. One proclaimed "the
formation of the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places," and two
others--one for each embassy--announced that the attack had been carried
out by a "company" of a "battalion" of this "Islamic Army."
91
On the morning of August 7, the bomb-laden trucks drove into the
embassies roughly five minutes apart--about 10:35
A
.
M
. in Nairobi and 10:39
A
.
M
. in Dar es Salaam. Shortly afterward, a phone call was placed from Baku
to London.The previously prepared messages were then faxed to London.
92
The attack on the U.S. embassy in Nairobi destroyed the embassy and killed
12 Americans and 201 others, almost all Kenyans. About 5,000 people were
injured.The attack on the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam killed 11 more peo-
ple, none of them Americans. Interviewed later about the deaths of the Africans,
Bin Ladin answered that "when it becomes apparent that it would be impos-
sible to repel these Americans without assaulting them, even if this involved
the killing of Muslims, this is permissible under Islam."Asked if he had indeed
masterminded these bombings, Bin Ladin said that the World Islamic Front for
jihad against "Jews and Crusaders" had issued a "crystal clear" fatwa. If the insti-
gation for jihad against the Jews and the Americans to liberate the holy places
"is considered a crime," he said,"let history be a witness that I am a criminal."
93
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