UGANDA: Twin blasts rock Kampala killing at least 23

Record ID: 359351

  • Title: UGANDA: Twin blasts rock Kampala killing at least 23
  • Date: 13th July 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) EYE WITNESS, JUMA SEIKO, SAYING: "We were watching soccer here and then when it was remaining like three minutes to the end of the match, an explosion came from here and it was so loud. I was seated there and then the second one went off, I think there are almost fifty people there."
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Uganda
  • Country: Uganda
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVABF3M7R0S4XJE0D11ZNYRCITUP
  • Story Text: Two separate explosions rocked the Ugandan capital Kampala on Sunday night (July 11), killing at least 23 people packed into bars to watch the World Cup final, police said.
    Police said there were many casualties at both the Ethiopian Village restaurant and at a rugby club where the blasts occurred.
    Eyewitnesses expressed their shock. "We don't know what happened, we were just watching, because for us we work with Silk Events which organised this, we just heard an explosion," said one man.
    Bodies could be seen lying on the ground amid the overturned chairs.
    "We were watching soccer here and then when it was remaining like three minutes to the end of the match, an explosion came from here and it was so loud. I was seated there and then the second one went off, I think there are almost fifty people there," said eyewitness Juma Seiko.
    Heavily armed troops cordoned off the area around the Ethiopian Village restaurant and evacuated the wounded, The Ethiopian Village is located in the Kabalagala district of Kampala, a popular night-life spot which was heaving with soccer fans watching the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.
    There was no immediate indication of who had launched the attack but last year, Somali rebel group al Shabaab threatened to attack the Ugandan capital. The country has troops in Somalia with an African Union peacekeeping force.
    The Lord's Resistance Army waged a two-decade war in northern Uganda before crossing into Sudan and further afield into central Africa.
    In May, the Ugandan government said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) could be regrouping along its western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed on Saturday (July 10) told Reuters he was worried by the growing number of foreign jihadists joining the ranks of Islamic insurgents and said they posed a growing threat to regional security.
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