Islamist terror rocks Uganda

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 was the first country to send AMISOM (African Union peace-keeping forces) to Somalia in early 2007. Burundi was next, and these two countries make up most of the AMISOM force; the Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, threatened that something similar will happen in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, if they don’t withdraw their troops too. The African Union wants the force increased from 5,000 to 8,000, to support the Transitional Federal Government of President Sheikh Sherif, which is hanging on by a thread.

The attack somehow follows the Al-Qaeda pattern: perfect timing; catch the enemy on his blind side; concentrate on where crowds gather –this time in a festive mood, a terrorist attack the last thing in their minds-; where security is complacent and the resulting confusion maximum. The Kyadondo Ground attack is suspected as the work of two suicide bombers.

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.

“People watching soccer should not be targeted,” Museveni said. “If you want a fight”, he asked the Al-Shabaab, “why don’t you take on soldiers, not civilians?” He warned the perpetrators they would be hunted down and he would “make sure the Law of Moses is applied to them.”

We were wondering what would be the main topic of conversation after the World Cup; we didn’t expect it to be this.


Martyn Drakard is Spero correspondent in Africa.