Ethiopiaforums.com

( Please be advised Images might be disturbing ) Updated with more pictures from the bombings.

Two separate explosions have killed at least 23 people in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, late Sunday.

Police said the first blast at an Ethiopian restaurant killed 13 people.

The second explosion at at a rugby club killed at least 10.   Many were injured at both locations.

The police chief said the attacks seemed to be targeting crowds gathered to watch the World Cup.

From : VOA

Some of those injured in the bomb blast at Kyaddondo Rugby grounds in Kampala – Photo by Wandera Ouma

Deadly blasts hit Ugandan capital

Updated:

At least 30 people have been killed in two separate bomb explosions in restaurants in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, police have said, in attacks apparently targeting crowds watching the World Cup final.

One blast hit an Ethiopian restaurant in the south of the city, while the other occurred at a rugby sports club in the east of Kampala, Kale Kayihura, the city’s police chief, said early on Monday.

He said many others had been injured at both sites, and several foreigners were believed to be among the casualties.

“These bombs were definitely targeting World Cup crowds,” Kayihura told reporters, adding that Somalia’s al-Shabab rebels, a group which has pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda, could be behind the attacks.

If that proves true, it would be the first time the group has carried out attacks outside of Somalia.

In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, an al-Shabab commander, told The Associated Press early Monday that he was happy with the attacks in Uganda, although he refused to confirm or deny that the group was responsible for the bombings.

A man attends a injured women , Sunday, July 11, 2010, after a bomb went off in a restaurant in Kampala's Kabalagala district, named Ethiopian Village.

“Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy,” Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa said.

On Friday another al-Shabab commander, Sheik Muktar Robow, called for fighters to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi – two nations that contribute troops to the 6,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu.

The force has been deployed to prop up Somalia’s Western-backed government which only controls a few square kilometres of the country.

In Washington late on Sunday Barack Obama, the US president, condemned the bombings.

A spokesman quoted him as saying the attacks were “deplorable and cowardly”.

Mike Hammer, spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement that the US was “ready to provide any assistance requested by the Ugandan government.”

US officials added that they were in contact with the US embassy in Kampala and in touch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding requests for assistance from Uganda’s government.

From : Al jazeera

Damaged chairs and tables amongst the debris strewn outside the restaurant "Ethiopian village" in Kampala, Uganda, Monday, July 12, 2010 after an explosion at the restaurant late Sunday.

Over 40 die in Kampala bomb blasts

WHAT should have been a feisty viewing of the 2010 World Cup finals between Netherlands and Spain turned tragic as three bomb explosions ripped through the city suburbs, killing over 40, leaving scores critically injured.
By this morning (2:00am), 15 bodies had been received at the city mortuary at Mulago as ambulances and Police patrol teams ferried the injured to various hospitals. Most of the deceased were part of the revellers at the popular Kyadondo Rugby Club in Lugogo.

victims of kampala bomb blast

The first bomb went off in Ethiopian Village in Kabalaga. The explosion went off during the half-time of the match between Spain and Netherlands. The other two went off at the Kyadondo Rugby Club in Nakawa at 11:18pm – one after the other in close succession.

The Police yesterday suspected that the Al Shabaab militants from Somalia could have been behind the attacks.

“We have been suspecting that these people could be planning something like this. At least I can confirm that 13 people have been killed in the Kabalagala incident and I am still waiting for reports from Kyadondo,” the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said on phone last night.

Asked who he meant by “these people”, Kayihura said: “Al Shabaab.” The Kabalagala bomb, the Police said, could have been targeting foreigners.

The Police could not put a figure on the casualties at Kyadondo though eyewitnesses put the dead at more than 40. There were also unconfirmed reports of other blasts in Ntinda and Bwaise.

Over 40 were injured. By 1:00am, Kyadondo was deserted, save for the injured awaiting evacuation as security operatives sealed off the place.

Witnesses said the two bombs exploded right in front of the giant screen relaying a live telecast from South Africa.

The night was soon after punctured with sirens on racing Police patrol trucks as the Police and counter-terrorism unit moved in.

The explosions took the victims by surprise as many were blown off their chairs and others died in their seats. Many others could have been killed and injured in the pandemonium that ensued.

In Kamwokya, a suburb popularly frequented by expatriates, all was quiet save for the car park which was full of vehicles where the Dutch Community hosted a live telecast of the match at Iguana restaurant.

Ntinda, a suburb that “never sleeps”, was deserted as several bars emptied hastily. Public transport was scarce save for a few brave boda boda riders. Most revellers in groups were seen walking home, some still carrying the famous vuvuzela, a trademark of the 2010 World Cup, South Africa.

From; New vision online

Images from the Uganda Bombings

A Ugandan man lies injured in the emergency ward at the Mulago hospital, Monday July 12, 2010, in Kampala after bombs exploded at two sites in Uganda’s capital late Sunday as people watched the World Cup soccer final on TV, killing dozens.

An American women lies injured at the emergency ward at the Mulago hospital, Monday July 12, 2010, in Kampala, Uganda after two explosions ripped through crowds watching the World Cup final in two places in Uganda's capital late Sunday, killing dozens of people, police said.

An injured man lies on a hospital bed as he receives a treatment at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda's capital, 11 July 2010.

Eighteen-year-old US citizen from Pennsylvania, who did not wish to reveal his name, talks to a nurse as he receives a treatment at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda's capital, 11 July 2010.

An injured man at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda's capital, 11 July 2010.

Lifeless bodies lie on the ground after a bomb went off at an Ethiopian restaurant, in Kampala's Kabalagala district, in Uganda, Sunday, July 11, 2010. Bombs exploded at two sites in Uganda's capital late Sunday as people watched the World Cup final on TV, killing dozens.

Thomas Kramer, rests in the International Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, Monday, July 12, 2010. He is one of the five US citizens who was injured in a bomb blast Sunday in an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala frequented by western expatriates, while watching the final World Cup match. "I never thought that could happen to me" says the fourteen-year-old US boy from Pennsylvania who went with his mother and her church to to help build a wall around a church and school and experience Africa firsthand.

Ethiopian citizen Micky Abebe (R) and Eritrean Samson Tesfai (L) both survivors of an explosion attack rest inside a ward at the International Hospital Kampala, July 12, 2010. Somali Islamists said on Monday they had carried out two bomb attacks in Uganda that killed 74 soccer fans watching the World Cup final on television. REUTERS/Benedicte Desrus