3 brothers held over 7/11 bomb blasts

THREE Ugandan brothers are among six fresh suspects netted in connection with the July 11 bombings in Kampala in which over 76 people perished and at least 50 were injured. Among them is the mastermind of the twin suicide attacks identified as Issa Luyima. He was picked up from the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, where he fled on July 10, a day before the blasts. “This is a turning point in the investigations. We now have the exact person behind the attacks,” a source said. Luyima and the other suspects were flown to Uganda over the weekend after interrogation by Kenya’s anti-terror squad.
Sources said Luyima hired the two male suicide bombers and ferried them to the Kabalagala Ethiopian Village Restaurant and Lugogo grounds where they blew themselves up, killing and injuring dozens of revellers who were watching the final of the soccer World Cup. The bombers were identified as Kenyan and Somali nationals. The third bomb at Ice Link Discotheque in Makindye, also a Kampala suburb, did not go off. A cell phone and a suicide vest were recovered from the bar. Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the blast, which they described as retaliatory for the presence of Ugandan peace-keepers in Somalia.
The Kenyan and Somali reportedly rented a three-room house in Paraa zone, Namasuba, a Kampala suburb, where they hatched the attack. Luyima “coordinated” the plot and asked one of his brothers to detonate the bomb at Ice Link discotheque. However, the bomber developed cold feet when he saw the huge crowd of revellers at the bar. “He said there were very many people and feared that a big number would die,” the source stated. Investigators also said the bomb could not explode since the other phone attached to the device had not been turned into vibration mode. The suspect later dumped the phone, which was to activate the bomb, into a pit-latrine in Namasuba, the investigators said. The phone and another believed to have set off the second bomb at Kyadondo have been recovered. Luyima’s brothers have confessed to involvement in the attacks, but said it was his idea. Luyima’s livelihood is unknown. Up until now, detectives believed the Kyadondo attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber, but it has emerged that another person, also in custody, was in the crowd on the fateful day. The man walked a few metres away before setting off the device using a cell phone.
The latest arrests brings the number of suspects to about 77. The detainees include Pakistanis, Somalis, a Yemeni national and Ugandans.
Three suspects, Idris Magondu, 42, Hussein Hassan Agade, 27, and Mohammed Aden Abdow, were a week ago charged with 89 offences which included terrorism, murder and attempted murder.
US foreign office on Thursday reported that 12 men accused of aiding the al- Shabaab are on the run. The Federal Bureau for Investigation has placed huge sums on their heads.

They are Abdikadir Ali Abdi, 19, Abdislan Hussein Ali, 21, Cabdulaaahi Ahmed Faraax, 33, Farah Mohamed Beledi, 26, and Abdiweli Yassin Isse, 26, all American citizens of Somali origin.

Others are Ahmed Ali Omar, 27, Khalid Mohammad Abshir, 27, Zakaria Maruf, 31, Mohammed Abdullahi Hassan, 22, and Mustapha Ali Salat, 20.

The 12 men plus two women Amina Farah Ali, 33, and Hawo Mohammed Hassan, 63, are accused of soliciting donations for al-Shabaab activities.