Throughout the 1990s, following the Gulf War, terrorist attacks had a major impact on CENTCOM forces. Faced with attacks such as the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers, which killed 19 American airmen, the command launched Operation Desert Focus, designed to relocate U.S. installations to more defensible locations (such as Prince Sultan Air Base), reduce the U.S. forward "footprint" by eliminating nonessential billets, and return dependents to the United States. In 1998 terrorists attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 250 persons, including 12 Americans. The October 2000 attack on the USS "Cole", resulting in the deaths of 17 U.S. sailors, was linked to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida organization.