Monday, July 12, 2010
The explosions ripped through two bars packed with soccer fans watching the final moments of the World Cup final on television in an Ethiopian-themed restaurant and at a gathering in a Kampala rugby club on Sunday.
Ugandan government spokesman Fred Opolot said on Monday there were indications that two suicide bombers took part in the attacks.
The blasts came two days after a commander with the Somali group, Al-Shabab, called for militants to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi, two nations that contribute troops to the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
Al-Shabab, whose ranks are swelled by militant veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, has long threatened to attack outside of Somalia's borders, but the bombings late on Sunday are the first time the group has done so.
“We will carry out attacks against our enemy wherever they are,” said Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, a militant spokesman in Mogadishu. “No one will deter us from performing our Islamic duty.”
Ugandan officials had said earlier that they suspected the Somali group was involved. One of the targets was an Ethiopian restaurant — a nation despised by the Al-Shabab militants.
The attacks on two soft targets filled with civilians raised concerns about the capabilities and motives of Al-Shabab, which the U.S. State Department has declared a terrorist organisation.
Indians killed
A California-based aid group, meanwhile, said one of its American workers was among the dead. Police said Ethiopian, Indian and Congolese nationals were also among those killed and wounded, said police.
Source: AP