Uganda Police Say Pakistanis Among Blast Suspects

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Reuters

Twin bomb attacks in Uganda that killed 73 people last week were carried out by suicide bombers and Pakistanis were among 20 suspects arrested, the head of police said on Sunday.

Somali al Shabaab insurgents linked to al Qaeda have said they carried out the attacks on a restaurant and a rugby club in the capital Kampala while fans watched the World Cup final last Sunday, but said no suicide bombers were involved.

"These attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. The evidence is overwhelming ... two heads have not been claimed, neither have they been identified. It can't be a coincidence," Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura told a news conference.

Such coordinated attacks have been a hallmark of al Qaeda and groups linked to Osama bin Laden's militant network. It was the first time that al Shabaab had carried out an attack beyond the borders of Somalia.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/07/18/world/international-uk-uganda-explosions.html?_r=1&ref=world

[Robb]

1. Well, almost certainly.

Al Shabaab lacks the indigenous expertise for an operation outside its own borders. The list of who would help them is pretty short.

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. the Operations in Puntland were outside the borders of the modern state

Though fairly unrecognized, Puntland and Somaliland in the north are quite separate from the Muqdishu-based state, the central/southern area of the former country which is largely dominated by al-Shabaab and Hizbu'l-Islam.

Ironically you are here mimicking the "helpless natives" narrative that you quite correctly mock in other contexts.

[Robb]

3. Hardly comparable.

We're not just talking about digging a hole and planting a land mine, but making two good portable bombs that go off as planned and at the same time. Roughly.

Bombs are easy. Bombs that work are hard. You don't go to correspondence school to do it properly, you bring in people who have built them successfully. In Shabaab's case, as far as nationalities they could tap since 2008, I wouldn't have blinked if they said they picked up Chechens, either.

[Alamuti Lotus]

4. X

eh.

[Robb]

5. Y?

:shrug:

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. I got annoyed at the course my thought was taking, decided to scrub it

No worries.