Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Unexploded suicide bomb belt found as Ugandan authorities arrest militants for double blast which killed 76 people



Ugandan authorities have made a number of arrests after Somali Islamists said they detonated two bombs which killed at least 76 people as they watched the World Cup final.The twin explosives ripped through two bars packed with football fans watching the final moments of the game on television late on Sunday.Investigators have also discovered an unexploded suicide-bomb belt at a third site, a government spokesman said today.
Uganda bombings
Attack: Two people receive medical treatment after bombs exploded at a bar and restaurant in the Ugandan capital KampalaSpokesman Fred Opolot said: 'Arrests were made yesterday after an unexploded suicide bomber's belt was found in the Makindye area (of the capital Kampala).'Radical Somali group Al Shabaab, which has links with Al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the attack.It has threatened further attacks against Uganda and Burundi, both of which have soldiers acting as peacekeepers in Somalia, if they do not withdraw their troops.Mr Opolot said there was no suggestion an African Union summit to be hosted by Uganda later this month would be cancelled following the attacks.
Uganda bombings
Blast: Rescuers carry an injured man away from a rugby club where the World Cup final was being screened

Ugandan bombings
Devastation: Officers sift through the debris left after a suicide bomb went off outside an Ethiopian restaurant
Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, Al Shabaab's spokesman, said: 'We warned Uganda not to deploy troops so Somalia; they ignored us.'We warned them to stop massacring our people, and they ignored that.
'The explosions in Kampala were only a minor message to them... we will target them everywhere if Uganda does not withdraw from our land.'Investigators have been searching through the blast sites, one an outdoor screening at a rugby club and the other an Ethiopian restaurant.A California-based aid group said one of its U.S. workers was among the dead. Officials said 60 Ugandans, nine Ethiopians, one Irish woman and one Asian person were also among those killed.
Another 85 people were wounded.
Al Shabaab
Terror: Somalia's Al Shabaab Islamist group claimed responsibility for the two attacks and said it would carry out further bombings if Uganda did not withdraw troops from the country

Nate Henn
Emily Kerstetter
Victims: Nate Henn, left, was killed when a bomb went off at a rugby club. Right, Emily Kirstetter, 16, was injured in the blast outside an Ethiopian restaurant
At least three of the wounded were in a church group from Pennsylvania who had gone to the Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala early to watch the game. One of the wounded was 16-year-old Emily Kerstetter.
Lori Ssebulime, a member of the group, said: 'Emily was rolling around in a pool of blood screaming.
'Five minutes before it went off, Emily said she was going to cry so hard because she didn't want to leave.
'She wanted to stay the rest of the summer here.'Invisible Children, a San Diego-based aid group that helps child soldiers, identified of its workers Nate Henn as among the dead.The FBI has sent agents from the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to assist in the investigation.Ugandan President Museveni visited the sites of the blasts yesterday.He said: 'We shall go for them wherever they are coming from.'We will look for them and get them as we always do.'

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