Operation Infinite Reach

Operation Infinite Reach
An al-Qaeda training camp in Zhawar Kili Al-Badr, Afghanistan.
Date August 20, 1998 Location Khost, Afghanistan, and Khartoum, Sudan 15°38′45″N 32°33′42″E / 15.64583°N 32.56167°E / 15.64583; 32.56167Coordinates: 15°38′45″N 32°33′42″E / 15.64583°N 32.56167°E / 15.64583; 32.56167 Result Strikes failed Al-Qaeda suffers casualties and material damage, but its senior leaders survive Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant destroyed Al-Qaeda propaganda victory
Belligerents
United States	al-Qaeda  Sudan Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Lashkar-e-Taiba
Commanders and leaders
Bill Clinton Anthony Zinni	Osama bin Laden Omar al-Bashir Fazlur Rehman Khalil
Strength
6 warships, 1 submarine	Up to 600 militants at Zhawar Kili Al-Badr
Casualties and losses
None	6–50 militants killed 1 killed, 10 injured 5 ISI officers killed

Strikes failed

Operation Infinite Reach was the codename for American cruise missile strikes on al-Qaeda bases in Khost, Afghanistan, and the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan, on August 20, 1998. The attacks, launched by the U.S. Navy, were ordered by President Bill Clinton in retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured over 4,000 others. Operation Infinite Reach was the first time the U.S. acknowledged a preemptive strike against a violent non-state actor.

U.S. intelligence suggested financial ties between the Al-Shifa plant and Osama bin Laden, and a soil sample collected from Al-Shifa allegedly contained a chemical used in VX nerve gas manufacturing. Suspecting that Al-Shifa was linked to, and producing chemical weapons for, bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, the U.S. destroyed the facility with cruise missiles, killing or wounding 11 Sudanese. The strike on Al-Shifa proved controversial; after the attacks, the U.S.' evidence and rationale were criticized as faulty, and academics Max Taylor and Mohamed Elbushra cite "a broad acceptance that this plant was not involved in the production of any chemical weapons."

The missile strikes on al-Qaeda's Afghan training camps, aimed at preempting more attacks and killing bin Laden, damaged the installations and inflicted an uncertain number of casualties; however, bin Laden was not present at the time. Following the attacks, the ruling Taliban allegedly reneged on a promise given to Saudi intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal to hand over bin Laden, and the regime instead strengthened its ties with the al-Qaeda chief.

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