On 28 November 2002, suicide bombers attacked the Paradise Hotel near Mombasa, a destination popular with Israeli tourists. Sixteen people died. Minutes earlier, two surface-to-air missiles were fired at an Israeli charter plane taking off from Mombasa airport.
The missiles missed. The hotel attack did not. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
For Mombasa, a city that had prided itself on its openness and cosmopolitan history, the attack was devastating. The coastal tourism industry, already fragile, was dealt another blow. The city that had always been a crossroads of the world was learning what it meant to be caught in global conflict.