Do you know these suicide bombers?
Interpol, FBI agents and local forensics experts have through special computer programmes reconstructed the likely look of suspected suicide bombers behind the 7/11 attacks. On the right is the suspect thought to have blown himself at the Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala while on the right is the one linked with the Kyadondo blasts. If you have any information on these suspects, call the police on 0800299991 or 0800199088.
Ethiopian Intelligence have reportedly alerted Uganda that the mastermind of Kampala’s July 11 bomb attacks is still at large within the country as Police yesterday tagged the explosions to suicide bombers.
A highly placed security source told this newspaper that a Somali national, whose identity is being kept secret so as not to jeopardise investigations, was beamed in the Saturday red notice as the brain behind the attacks which officials say claimed 76 lives.
Unrecovered heads
Up to 35 other people were by last evening still reported missing, according to figures at a joint Uganda Red Cross/Police ad hoc tally centre established in the aftermath of the bombing.
Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura, said there is “very strong evidence” on involvement of suicide bombers since two heads recovered from the scenes of the blasts at Kyadondo Rugby ground and Ethiopian Village restaurant in Kabalagala, a city suburb, have hitherto neither been identified nor claimed by anyone.
“Certainly before they carried out the attacks, they were definitely mixing up and interacting with people in routine activities in the city,” said Maj. Gen. Kayihura.
FBI, Mossad present
Interpol and the 63 Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents in the country, together with local forensic investigators, have used special computer programmes to re-construct the social scenes and generated the likely look of the suspected dead suicide bombers moments before the explosives detonated (See page 1 pictures).
“Anybody with information leading to the arrest of accomplices to these attackers is encouraged to call toll-free lines 0800299991 or 0800199088 to notify Police,” said Maj. Gen. Kayihura.
Alternatively, informers can log onto www.upf.co.ug/comments.php to post alerts to detectives or upload videos or photographs taken by volunteers at or within the scenes of the explosions.
The police chief said more than 20 people had been taken in custody to assist with the investigations but some of the initial suspects had been freed after preliminary questioning.
“We value the input of the public in tracking the perpetrators who acted through a local network of demented Ugandans or other confused Africans,” he said, adding: “There was very strong foreign involvement.”
The al Shabaab, Somalia’s militant group seeking to topple President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s Transitional Federal Government, has since claimed responsibility for the murderous attacks which its leadership says was to punish Kampala for UPDF’s involvement in Mogadishu.
President Museveni has declared that the Ugandan military, in Somalia under an African Union mandate, will openly confront the self-declared Al Qaeda affiliate once continental leaders, gathering in Kampala for a summit opening today, agree to change AMISOM’s mandate from peace-keeping to peace enforcement.
Maj. Gen. Kayihura in echoing the Commander-in-Chief said Uganda will never surrender to terrorists and the way to guard against future attacks is through increased public vigilance – notify police of any suspicious objects or persons and ensuring controlled access to all premises.
Yesterday, the elite Special Forces and the military police were deployed on the streets alongside regular police to beef security in the city swamped by foreign dignitaries trooping for the African Union summit at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
A number of Mossad agents, Israel’s feared spy unit, has arrived in the country to bolster local investigators already receiving assistance from 63 Federal Bureau of Investigations agents here since last week, Maj. Gen. Kayihura said.
He did not specify if another terrorist attack is imminent but said they would “not to take any chances”. It has emerged that Ugandan intelligence picked information a week prior to the July 11 attacks, indicating suspected terrorists had infiltrated the country but were uncertain what method or location they would choose to strike.
Asked why they did not alert the public, the police chief said: “We had to balance between not disrupting normal life and taking security precaution. But blaming security (organisations) is a red-herring; it’s scapegoat as usual.”
