Islamist terror rocks Uganda

ICC Note

“We have killed many Christians in the enemy capital, ( Kampala ).”

07/13/2010 Uganda (Spero News)-The balmy Kampala night; the stage was set for fun. Bars, restaurants and social halls were packed with soccer fans. Most popular of all among the younger generation of Uganda was the Kyadondo Rugby Ground, not far from the city centre, where a huge screen was ready to show the first soccer World Cup on African soil. Local artists performed to warm up the atmosphere; vuvuzelas blared, the game began. Half time, no score, and Bebe Cool, a local singer and dancer, thrilled the audience.

A few minutes into the second half, around 11.00 pm local time, a huge explosion shattered everyone’s attention, confusing spectators; some thought it was a short circuit, others already lay dead in their plastic chairs. Lights went out; followed one minute later by another blast. No short circuit; this was an attack.

Across the city, a few minutes earlier another blast killed a dozen people, mainly Eritreans and Ethiopians, at the Ethiopian Village : a restaurant in the popular night-life suburb of Kabalagala.

Twenty-four hours later the death toll had already reached 74, and Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamist group had confirmed they were responsible –they were actually reported as saying they “were happy” with the outcome, and thanked the mujihadeens who carried out the attack—and threatened further violence if Uganda continued to keep its troops in Somalia. An Al-Shabaab militant was still more specific: “we have killed many Christians in the enemy capital, ( Kampala ).”

Uganda ’s President Museveni visited the bomb sites and the major hospitals where patients had been taken, and declared one week of national mourning. But before the mourning is over he is due to host the one-week African Union Summit in Kampala , which opens on Monday 19th July, and which most African heads-of-state are expected to attend. The bomb attacks are an embarrassment, to say the least; as well as a reminder of the Al-Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.