By John Ikani
Kenyan Police are on high alert following the twin explosions that hit Uganda’s capital Kampala on Tuesday, in which no fewer than three people were killed and 33 wounded.
Three attackers on motorcycles blew themselves up near Parliament and the city’s Police headquarters. Two officers were among the dead in the blasts that occurred at 10.03am and 10.06am.
The blasts went off three minutes apart, with the first exploding at Central Police Station at 10.03am, killing two people and injuring 17, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told journalists in the Naguru suburb of Kampala.
The second blast, which killed one person and injured 16, went off on Parliament Avenue at 10.06am, detonated by two men riding two motorbikes, CCTV footage released by the police showed.
The National Police Service (NPS) said security has been beefed up in all security installations and towns across the country and along the border points.
“The NPS assures the public of their security and safety following terror-related incidents in our neighbouring country earlier today. Our sympathies to victims and families who were affected by such an atrocious act,” NPS posted on Twitter.
Police have urged the public to stay alert and report suspicious activities to the nearest station or using the toll free lines 999/112.
Ugandan authorities linked the attacks to radicalised groups attached to the Allied Democratic Forces, a branch of the Islamic State (IS). ADF is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and it is considered a terrorist organisation.
Explosives used in all the attacks were made from common household items. Ugandan police called on the public to exercise extra vigilance and report suspicious activities, such as persons buying large amounts of chemicals and materials that can be used to make bombs.
“It shows the groups still desire to carry out lethal attacks on soft targets using suicide bombers and IEDs,” he said.
The attacks happened barely three weeks after another explosion killed a waitress at a restaurant in the city after three suspects disguised as customers deliberately left their package under a table.
