At Least Three Dead From Bomb Blasts In Kampala, Uganda

Three suicide bombers in the heart of Uganda’s capital Kampala have killed at least three civilians and sent parliamentarians scrambling for cover as nearby cars ruptured into flames, onlookers and police said. The blast occurred near the parliament and the city’s police headquarters.  

The number of dead is expected to rise, with the blasts leaving body parts strewn in the streets. The attacks have been blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group based in the DR Congo.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga said “the bomb threats are still active, especially from suicide attackers.”

“We believe there are still more members of these domestic terror cells, especially the suicide bomb squad that has been created by the ADF,’’ he added.

Proceedings in parliament were called off and MPs have been instructed not to come to the building following the attacks.

“A booming sound like that from a big gun went off. The ground shook, my ears nearly went deaf,’’ Peter Olupot, a bank guard who was near the parliament when the attack occured, told Reuters news agency.

The ADF group was formed in the late 1990s in opposition to Uganda’s long-serving President, Yoweri Museveni, but re-emerged in the last decade when its attacks began to be claimed by the Islamic State group. Last month, the ADF said it was behind an attack on a bar in Kampala which killed a 20-year-old waitress.

Ugandan forces are also part of an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia fighting al-Shabab, a rebellious group allied to al-Qaeda.

Sources

Reuters

Yahoo

Featured Image Source: Reuters