The Inspector General of Uganda Police, Maj. Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura has revealed that two people have been arrested in connection with bomb blasts that rocked Kampala on Sunday evening.
Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura
At least 76 people have so far died from Sunday’s bomb blasts that were detonated in two Kampala suburbs Kabalagala at the Ethiopian Village restaurant and in Lugogo at the Kyadondo Rugby club stadium where multitudes of people were watching a live huge screening of the final game of 2010 FIFA World Cup between Netherlands and Spain.
The Uganda police chief says that “two suspicious people” have been arrested in connection with the bombs that are believed to have been planted by Islamic militant group Al-Shabab. Although the group has gone short of claiming the bombs, they have celebrated the bombs and killings in Uganda and warned that Burundi is next. Uganda and Burundi are the only two countries to have so far sent peacekeeping troops to war torn Somalia under the Africa Union peace Keeping Mission in Somalia. Al-Shabab has been warning Uganda and Burundi to withdraw from Somalia or get “punished”.
Pressed by Journalists to name the suspects or their nationality, Kayihura said he will not divulge the names or their nationality because it will interfere with investigations. Some sources however said the two arrested are men of Somali origin. Some reports also indicate the police recovered a head of a Somali looking man, giving credence to suspicions that the bombs were an act of suicide bombers.
Victims of Uganda bombs at Lugoogo
Kayihura said the major achievement of the investigations so far is the link established between the bomb blasts in Kabalagala and Lugogo, and the failed Monday bomb at Makindye house which the police managed to detonate before it could blast and injure people.
The head of the Uganda Police Anti terrorism unit, Abas Byakagaba told journalists in Kampala that the parts of the bomb at Makindye house were similar to some of remains picked from the Lugogo and Kabalagala bomb blasts. He also said that the police had recovered a suicide bomb belt, a suicide vest and several explosives at the Makindye house bomb. Byakagaba said the bomb found on the scene could either be blasted by a suicide bomber or on its own as the particular person who left it there had intended.
Kayihura and Byakagaba appealed to Ugandans to report any suspicious people and objects left unattended to and to stay at least 100 meters from any such suspicious objects.
The US government which condemned the attacks has promised to give Uganda all the support it needs to investigate and curtail the terrorist threats. It is being reported that a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is arriving soon in Kampala to help with the investigations on the bombs.
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Youtube vidoes of the Kampala Uganda bomb blasts