How the 7/11 bomb attacks were planned and executed

The group

• Rented a house in Namasuba where the planning, assembling and testing of bombs was done.
• Spent days surveying the targeted places.
• Bought two phones at Mutasa Kafeero Plaza.
• They had also targeted Cheri Bar in Kabalagala and Khana Kazana in Kololo
• They held prayers before the attack.
• They describe themselves as martyrs.

Yesterday, military intelligence officials paraded four suspects who were reportedly behind the 7/11 bombings in Kampala that left 76 people dead. Risdel Kasasira, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa and Joseph Miti recorded the suspects’ confessions and now transcribe them below;

Issa Ahmed Luyima
I’m called Issa Ahmed Luyima. I joined the al Shabaab movement in 2009. I trained with foreign fighters for four months in Barawa then deployed in Mogadishu. I took part in the offensive that led to the capture of Karan, the stronghold of President Ahmed Sharif.

After my assignment in Mogadishu, I headed to Kismayo where renegade Ahmed Madobe, who had previously with al Shabaab, wanted to capture Kismayo from us.
We went there and fought them bitterly. We pushed them out of Kismayo until they reached Kenyan border. I went back to Mogadishu but this time I was a sick. I had typhoid and malaria. From the sick-house, I was picked by someone who later became my leader, Hanif Jabir.

He took me to his safe house together with people who were to carry out this operation (bombings in Kampala). He told me that as someone who was brave, he wanted me to come home and rent a house and enjoy myself. We waited for some time before the logistics were provided—when they came, I was given $1,800 (about Shs3.8m).
We left Mogadishu and spent a night in Baidowa. I proceeded to the border with Kenya, where I crossed and headed to Nairobi. After two days, I went to see my family in Mombasa. My boss followed me there and asked me to come to Kampala for the assignment.

I stayed (in Kampala) for a month but I couldn’t find my other boss, who had reportedly travelled to Somalia. I then decided to return to Mombasa where I met Jabir again. It is at that point that he sent Mugisha to come to Uganda to look for a house, which he paid for.

But when I came to Uganda, I found the house Mugisha had hired not secure. I decided to look for another house. Mugisha had problems after he was arrested (Mugisha was arrested before the explosions on a different matter – Ed). With Mugisha behind bars, all his roles reverted to me.

I received all the supplies, the explosives and later received the suicide bombers. Some of them absconded because they had complaints against the leader and went back to Somalia. As time for the operation got closer, I started doing surveillance for the best targets to hit. My boss approved them.

Because we were short of manpower after the bombers left, I decided to bring my brother Hassan on board and Edris. I left before the attacks because I would be an easy target for security. I had a bad record, having been arrested earlier in Kenya for terrorism.

I told my brother and Edris to help carry the bombers to the targeted areas. I also requested my brother to carry the suicide vests placed in lap top bags and take them to Makindye House and detonate them with a phone. I also requested Edris to take the Somali suicide bomber to Kyadondo.

I’m sorry. My rage was with Americans whom I deemed responsible for the suffering of Muslims. They planted the Transitional Federal Government to stop the formation of an Islamic state and that explains why one of the targets I chose was the Ethiopian Restaurant. It had whites.

I ask fellow Ugandans to forgive me for the tragedy and the deaths. In brief, I planned the attacks, haboured suicide bombers and kept the gadgets that were used.

Edris Nsubuga:
First of all, I would like to extend my sincere apologies to the families that lost people during the July 11 incident. Isa was calculative in choosing me. He came back in April and told he wanted to get a house but said Kenyan and Ugandan intelligence were trailing him. At this time, he was staying Naigara Hotel.

He said he was expecting to get the money and later came with a friend whom he introduced as coming from Kenya. He asked to leave some household items at my house—they were packed in plastic boxes.

I left for Galaxy Internet Café in town—where Issa—driving a Land Cruiser—followed me. There, he held my hand, said a short prayer in Arabic and looked into my eyes, saying this was a call from God. I was confused.

When Spain was playing Germany in the semi finals, he called me to meet him in Makindye. I got there on a boda boda. He told me his brother Luyima had found other targets; Ice Link and Cheri’s in Kabalagala. We went to survey Cheri’s but there the security looked tight. Hassan suggested that we go to the Ethiopian Restaurant, where he said he had seen whites.