Deadly blasts target World Cup fans

2010-07-12 07:07

An injured Ugandan man lies in the emergency ward at Mulago hospital in Kampala after bombs exploded at two sites as people watched the World Cup soccer final, killing dozens. (Marc Hofer, AP)

Kampala - Bomb explosions that tore through two bars in the Ugandan capital on Sunday night killed at least 64 people and wounded 65 others, a national police spokesperson said on Monday.

"We have 64 dead and 65 injured. The nationalities of all the fatalities will be released later," Judith Nabakooba told AFP.

The blasts went off as crowds of football fans were watching the World Cup finals in an Ethiopian restaurant on the southern outskirts of Kampala and a rugby club in the east of the city.

An American national was among the dead, a US embassy official here said.

Police chief Kale Kayihura said the explosions could be linked to recent threats by Somalia's al-Qaeda-inspired Shebaab militia to countries that have sent troops to the African Union peace force there.

Uganda and Burundi are the only African countries to have deployed forces to the war-wracked Horn of African country.

- AFP