Bombs explode at 2 sites in Uganda with 20 deaths feared; Somali militia blamed

Bombs explode at sites in Uganda, 20 deaths feared

KAMPALA, Uganda — Bombs exploded at two sites in Uganda’s capital late Sunday as people gathered to watch the World Cup final on TV. Police did not immediately confirm a death toll, but reports from the scene indicated that more than 20 people may have been killed.

Police Chief Kale Kaihura said he believed that Somalia’s most feared militia — al-Shabab, which has pledged loyalty to al-Qaida — could be behind the attacks. One of the bombs went off at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Al-Shabab views Ethiopia as an enemy. The second blast went off at restaurant called the Kyadondo Rugby Club.

A police officer at the scene of the blasts said he believed more than 20 people had been killed. He said he could not be named, and Kaihura declined to immediately give a death toll. An AP reporter at the two scenes estimated that the toll would be more than 20.

At the scenes of the two blasts chairs were overturned. Blood and pieces of flesh littered the floor.

Al-Shabab is Somalia’s most dangerous militant group, one that militant veterans of the Afghan, Pakistan and Iraq conflicts have helped train, according to international officials.

If Kaihura’s early suspicions that al-Shabab was responsible prove true, it would be the first time the group has carried out attacks outside of Somalia.