President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni says the explosive incident that occurred on Saturday night seems to be a terrorist act.
The said explosion occurred at around 9;00 p.m. at a small eatery called Georon next to the famous Digida Pork joint in Komamboga. The explosion reportedly left one person dead and several others injured.
Communicating through his Twitter handle on Sunday morning, President Museveni noted that he has been briefed that the said explosive might have been planted by a group of three people.
“Three people came and left a package in a kaveera which later on exploded, killing one person and injuring five others. It seems to be a terrorist act but we shall get the perpetrators,” his statement reads in part.
The president adds that police specialists are on the ground investigating the whole incident and at later stage they will give the nation more information on the suspected terrorist attack and guidelines on vigilance by the Public dealing with these possible terrorists.
“The public should not fear; we shall defeat this criminality like we have defeated all the other criminality committed by the pigs who don’t respect life,” he president added. Although the president decried the bombing as a possible terrorist act, security agencies are yet to comment on who they believe is responsible for the explosion.
Currently the scene of crime has been condoned off by police with most of the roads leading the place sealed off. However, a big crowd of resident have gathered behind the police line which has been place almost 50 metres from the scene. Meanwhile, the attacked place seems to be in the blind spot from of the national CCTV cameras.
On October 14, 2021 the United Kingdom and France warned of a possible terrorists’ attack in Uganda. However, police reportedly said that there was no need to elevate the threat levels.
Earlier in the morning, Uganda Radio Network reporters visited the scene but revealed that it has since been cordoned off by various security agencies who cannot allow people to enter inside and observe what the scene looks like following the explosion.
However, some sources who preferred anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matters say that the blast left behind a huge hole at the Centre of where people were seated and that some fragments hit people and cars as far as 100 meters.
Going by President Museveni’s words that this was a terrorism act through use of a bomb, it would mean that this is the second time the suspected terrorists are hitting Uganda with a bomb.
Uganda last suffered a major terror attack on July 11, 2010 after a militant Islamist group, Al-Shabab, killed over 75 people in a Kampala twin-bombing as hundreds watched a football World Cup final match.
But in the aftermath 14 people were arrested and of these, nine were found guilty and sentenced to a punishment ranging between 35 years to 50 years in jail while others were given life imprisonment by the then High Court Judge Alfonse Owiny-Dollo in 2016.
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Residents should be vigilant.