Uganda bombings kill 30 watching World Cup

[S_O_C_O_M]

Uganda bombings kill 30 watching World Cup​

Police chief fears Somali group tied to al-Qaida is behind attacks​

A wounded woman is treated outside a restaurant in Kampala, Uganda, on Sunday after a bomb attack.


updated less than 1 minute ago

KAMPALA, Uganda — Bombs exploded at two sites in Uganda's capital late Sunday as people watched the World Cup final on TV, killing at least 30 people.

Foreigners, including Europeans and possibly Americans, were believed to be among the casualties.

Police Chief Kale Kaihura said he believed that Somalia's most feared militia — al-Shabab, which has pledged loyalty to al-Qaida — could be behind the attacks.

One of the bombs went off at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala, Uganda's capital. Al-Shabab views Ethiopia as an enemy. The second blast went off at a restaurant called the Kyadondo Rugby Club.

Kaihura said 14 people were killed at the restaurant, and that he believed the toll at the Rugby Club was far higher than 14, though he did not have an exact number.

At the scenes of the two blasts chairs were overturned. Blood and pieces of flesh littered the floor.

Al-Shabab is Somalia's most dangerous militant group, one that militant veterans of the Afghan, Pakistan and Iraq conflicts have helped train, according to international officials.

If Kaihura's early suspicions that al-Shabab was responsible prove true, it would be the first time the group has carried out attacks outside of Somalia.

In Mogadishu, Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, an al-Shabab commander, told The Associated Press early Monday that he was happy with the attacks in Uganda. Issa refused to confirm or deny that al-Shabab was responsible for the bombings.

"Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy. May Allah's anger be upon those who are against us," Sheik said.

During prayers on Friday, another al-Shabab commander, Sheik Muktar Robow, had called for militants to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi — two nations that contribute troops to the African Union force in Mogadishu.

On Sunday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the U.S. was prepared to provide any necessary assistance to the Ugandan government.

"The president is deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from these deplorable and cowardly attacks, and sends his condolences to the people of Uganda and the loved ones of those who have been killed or injured," Vietor said.

In addition to its troops in Mogadishu, Uganda also hosts Somali soldiers trained in U.S. and European backed training programs.

Kenya's foreign minister, Moses. M. Wetangula, told The Associated Press last week that enough veteran militants from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts have relocated to Somalia to spark worry inside the international community.

International militants have flocked to Somalia because the country's government controls only a few square miles of the capital, Mogadishu, leaving most of the rest of the country lawless territory where insurgents can train and plan attacks unimpeded.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed on Saturday appealed for the international community to do more to help his country fight al-Qaida linked militants. There are currently about 6,000 African Union peacekeepers in the country.

Uganda bombings kill 30 watching World Cup - World news - Africa - msnbc.com

 

[S_O_C_O_M]

Pakistan is being implicated. This sucks.

 

[DesiGuy]

Pakistan is being implicated. This sucks.

why??

 

[S_O_C_O_M]

why??

An unknown person only known as "DesiGuy" is spreading false rumors to international officials.

 

[DesiGuy]

An unknown person only known as "DesiGuy" is spreading false rumors to international officials.

shhh, btw, Am i that smart, That even international officials listen to me.

 

[Spitfighter]

Pakistan is being implicated. This sucks.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Pakistan's implicated more often than not.

 

[S_O_C_O_M]

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Pakistan's implicated more often than not.

 

[GUNNER]

74 Killed In Uganda World Cup Party Bombing
KAMPALA, July 12, 2010 (AFP) - Bomb attacks ripped through crowds watching the World Cup final in Kampala, killing 64 and wounding scores in blasts blamed on Al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia, officials said Monday.

No group claimed responsibility for the carnage at a Kampala sports bar and an Ethiopian restaurant but Uganda pointed at Shebab insurgents in Somalia, where Uganda has thousands of troops deployed in an African Union mission.

At least one American was among those killed in the explosions, which US President Barack Obama swiftly condemned as "cowardly".
The attacks came days ahead of the July 19-27 African Union summit in Kampala, which the government said would go ahead as planned.

"The latest official count is 74 confirmed," Fred Opolot, a Ugandan government spokesman, told AFP without elaborating. The previous death toll provided by the police stood at 64.

He said the nationalities of the victims were still being established and added that police were trying to determine if suicide bombers carried out the attacks.

"While there is evidence to suggest that there were suicide bombers, at the same time it is thought that the bombs were under some chairs," he told reporters.

A US embassy spokeswoman confirmed one American was among the dead and an AFP correspondent saw at least three wounded US citizens at the city's main Mulago hospital, where dozens were rushed in for treatment.

"We just wanted to watch the World Cup. Unfortunately we went to the Ethiopian Village," said Chris Sledge, an 18-year-old US national who suffered serious injuries to his legs and a bruised eye.

"I feel OK. I'm going to need surgery," he said.

The attacks, which dampened the party mood around the first World Cup tournament held in Africa, drew a barrage of international condemnation.

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described the attacks as "barbaric".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "deeply shocked" by news of the blasts, adding they were "cowardly attacks during an event that was widely seen as a celebration of African unity."

"The president (Obama) is deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from these deplorable and cowardly attacks, and sends his condolences to the people of Uganda and the loved ones of those who have been killed or injured," US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said.

The United States was in contact with its embassy in Kampala and the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding Uganda's requests for assistance, said a senior US administration official.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni condemned the attack and vowed to pursue the attackers.

"People who are watching football are not people who should be targeted," Museveni said when he visited the Kampala Rugby Club bar, which along with an Ethiopian restaurant located some four kilometres (2.4 miles) away, were hit.

"We should go for them because they are very irresponsible, backward and cowardly," he added at the scene where some survivors said two blasts went off.

Police chief Kale Kayihura told reporters it was too early to say who was behind the attack but suggested Uganda's leading role in the African Union force (AMISOM) battling the Shebab in Somalia could be the motive.

"Obviously this is terrorism. That one is clear," he said.

"You know there have been declarations from Shebab and Al-Qaeda. Terrorism is a modern-day threat. You know the region we are in and our commitment in Somalia."

The Shebab did not immediately comment on the bombings. A website linked to the group carried a news story on the attacks under the headline "glad tidings".

Several factors pointed to a possible motive for Shebab involvement: the blasts struck Uganda, they cast a pall on the upcoming AU summit, they destroyed an Ethiopian restaurant and ripped through a group of football fans.

Shebab opposes Ethiopia because it sent troops into Somalia to support the transitional government against the Islamist hardliners.

The Shebab, which controls most of Somalia and imposes a strict form of Islamic law (Sharia), had banned people from gathering to watch the World Cup in areas it controls.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra condemned the Uganda blasts "in the strongest possible terms".

 

[GUNNER]

MOGADISHU, July 12, 2010 (AFP) - Somalia's Shebab insurgent group on Monday claimed responsibility for overnight bomb blasts in Kampala that left at least 74 people dead.

"We are behind the attack because we are at war with them," Ali Mohamoud Rage, the group's top spokesman told reporters in Mogadishu.

The Al Qaeda-inspired movement's top leader had warned in an audio message earlier this month that Uganda would face retaliation for its role in supporting the western-backed Somali transitional government.

"We had warned the Ugandans to refrain from their actions, we spoke to the leaders and we spoke to the people and they never listened to us," Rage said.

Uganda was the first country to deploy troops to Somalia in early 2007 for the African Union mission meant to protect the transitional government from the Shebab and their Islamist allies in the insurgency.

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Another testimony of the inhuman nature of these barbarians.

 

[GUNNER]

Uganda Bombing Turns Shebab Into Regional Player

By Jean-Marc Mojon

NAIROBI, July 14, 2010 - Deadly bombings in Kampala, far from its home turf, have raised the profile of Somalia's Shebab to worthy Al Qaeda disciples whose reach and firepower can threaten East Africa as a whole.

The Somali insurgent group have claimed responsibility for Sunday's multiple bombings that ripped through crowds watching the World Cup final, killing at least 76 in East Africa's deadliest attacks in 12 years.

Political analysts say the Shebab scored a double whammy -- domestically sending a strong message to Ugandan troops in Mogadishu while also propelling themselves into the elite club of Al Qaeda franchises with regional scope.

Stig Jarle Hansen, a Norwegian academic and Somalia expert, said that although the attacks struck civilian targets inside Uganda, they primarily served a military purpose in Somalia.

Uganda and Burundi are the only two countries involved in the African Union force in Somalia (AMISOM), which alone has prevented the Shebab from achieving a complete takeover of Mogadishu.

"Uganda is of direct strategic importance to the Shebab," Hansen said. "It would be a big victory to get Uganda to leave Somalia."

After attempting to turn Somali opinion against AMISOM troops by branding them Christian crusaders and blaming them for civilian deaths, the Shebab have upped the ante by trying to shake the contributor nations' resolve.

Shebab overall leader Mohamed Abdi Godane had warned Uganda and Burundi earlier this month.

Hansen said that the Shebab have now proved that such warnings were more than sabre rattling and that the Kampala bombings caught the region napping.

The group, an emanation of the Islamic Courts Union that briefly ruled Somalia in 2006, was perhaps wishfully thought of as a contained Somali problem but Sunday's bombings have brought its regional dimension into sharp focus.

Suicide belts were used, the blasts were simultaneous, and the targets were crowds watching "un-Islamic" football and included an Ethiopian restaurant. The Shebab's modus operandi thus followed the Al Qaeda book to a T.

"Shebab has been seriously underestimated, it has falsely been seen as fragmented and weak," Hansen said.

The growing influence of foreign fighters who have been streaming into Somalia in recent months has given the Shebab, whose leadership proclaimed its allegiance to Osama bin Laden, an international dimension.

Rachid Abdi, a Somalia expert with the International Crisis Group think-tank, said Uganda AMISOM commanders had recently received threats in the vernacular Luganda language in calls originating from Somalia.

"It will be very interesting when forensic investigators establish the identities... The attacks were not necessarily carried out by Somalis, but possibly by Ugandan jihadis fighting alongside them," he said.

Burundi announced Tuesday it was heightening security in response to the Shebab threat, while Kenya sent truckloads of security personnel to its border with Somalia.

Abdi said Kenya was the closest and most obvious target for further attacks, but pointed out that the Shebab might be shooting themselves in the foot by striking a country they have effectively used as a rear base.

"But if Kenya takes on a military role in Somalia, the dynamics will change," the ICG researcher said.

"Ethiopia is a different ball game altogether, they know the Shebab and have a developed intelligence infrastructure but I think they could go for a softer country like Burundi," he said.

Hansen predicted that the Kampala attacks could result in increased determination from regional players.

"If the intention was to scare Uganda from engaging in Somalia, I think it would be a failure... The Ugandan regime will probably feel more provoked than scared. This could lead to a scale-up rather than a pull-out," he said.