The police in Uganda are reporting that a number of people have died following a suicide bombing in the capital Kampala on Tuesday, the following is a full statement by the Uganda Police Force.
We wish to inform the public that we have registered two separate deadly suicide attacks, within, Kampala City, on 16.11.2021 at 10.03 am and 10.06 am respectively.
The first attack occurred near the checkpoint to the Central Police Station, in Kampala at around 10.03 am. The fresh footages on CCTV clearly indicate how a male adult, putting on a black jacket, and carrying a backpack, detonated himself. He died instantly and the spillover effect caused additional injuries to police officers and other civilians who were within a radius of 30 metres. Two other people have been confirmed dead, while 17 others sustained very critical injuries. Those injured were within the section covering the point of impact and the front desk area at the Central Police Station.
Another bomb blast occurred within three minutes at Raja Chambers and Jubilee Insurance Building along Parliament Avenue. Two suicide bombers were clearly captured, on motorcycles, disguised as bodaboda riders. They deteriorated the bombs they were carrying on themselves, which killed them instantly.
Both scenes have been cordoned off by our Joint Counter-terror task teams. So far 23 injured victims, 5 critically, have been rushed to Mulago National Referral Hospital, for further treatment. Our thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. We also wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
These attacks come 22 days after the last suicide bomb attack on a Swift Safaris Bus. It clearly shows that the ADF linked radicalized groups, still have a desire to carry out lethal attacks, on soft targets, with suicide attackers and improvised explosive devices.
These kinds of threats remain significant because IEDs and suicide bomb jackets can easily be built from common household items found in local markets, retail shops and supermarkets. Many businesses unconsciously sell these items, that are used to sell bombs, which calls for extra vigilance. We encourage businesses and the public to voluntarily report suspicious activities, such as buying large amounts of chemicals and materials that can be used to build bombs.
We do strongly condemn the perpetrators of those senseless and heinous attacks within the city. Although three suicide bombers, died in the double bomb attacks, our CT response teams managed to pursue a fourth suicide bomb attacker and covered him at Bwaise. They shot and injured him, and immediately after, recovered an unexploded improvised explosive device, at Nansana-Katooke, at his home, which the bomb squad, we’re going to neutralize. We are now pursuing other members of the terror groups.
Although, our Joint Counter Terror teams, and mitigated bomb threats and attacks for the last 22 days, today’s breakthrough attacks show that we still need to do more, to pre-empt, penetrate and prevent deadly attacks by domestic extremists in the days to come.
As you are all aware, we have managed to counter several bomb threats, and also neutralized several suspicious packages and device-related incidents across the nation.
For now, the bomb threats are still active, and cannot be solved in one go, which calls for the popular intelligence and vigilance of the community.
Once again, we would like to reassure all Ugandans and visitors to the country, that we continue to pursue all terrorists, their agents, operatives and collaborators, to help prevent the re-emergence of such acts of domestic terror.
