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.

We separated and everyone went home. We again met on Friday at Prime Complex and Issa said he was waiting for someone from Kenya to bring him money. He told me he wanted me to meet his visitors; the suicide bombers.

He wanted me to meet them on Saturday, the eve of the World Cup final but on that day, my father instructed me to go to Mbogo Muslim School to visit my young brother.
Issa later told Hassan to take me to meet the suicide bombers, whom he referred to as martyrs. I linked up with Hassan and we went to Mutasa Kafeero Plaza where we bought two phones.

Thereafter, we went to the Old Taxi Park and headed to the safe house in Namasuba. I found two guys. One was light skinned with protruding upper teeth and another was dark skinned with a flat nose.

At that point, Hassan suggested that we go for the final surveillance. Hassan told me he was not comfortable being in company of a Somali. I therefore left with the light skinned guy as he went out with the black guy. On Sunday we met at Kenjoy Supermarket in Najjanakumbi where he bought the suicide bombers food. We agreed to meet at 6pm at the safe house. When I got there—Hassan was with the suicide bombers and said they had already assembled the explosives. They started testing the bombs using a bulb to show me how the explosives work. At 9pm we jumped on boda bodas for the attack—but that was after we had said a prayer.

Hassan Haruna
My name is Hassan Haruna Luyima. I am 27 years and a young brother to Issa Luyima. I knew about the plot to plant bombs two weeks before.
He (Issa) was teaching me things in Islam different from what he had taken me through much earlier. When I questioned him, he told me that our Muslim brothers in Palestine and Somalia were suffering because they are Muslims and needed our help.
I told him we could then offer prayers for their intercession but he said that was not enough—adding that it was my responsibility as a Muslim to help them.

On July 9, he (Issa) called phoned me, asking that I meet him in town at another brother’s shop at Pioneer Mall. When we met, he requested that I help take his bag to Makindye. When we got there, he took me to a bar where he bought me a soda as we watched football. We did this as we waited for Edris.

He hinted to me that the bar was where he wanted me to bring the bag—though I never asked him about the contents of the bag. A few minutes later, Edris joined us and we left, boarding another taxi. But as we headed to town, he suddenly changed, saying we should go to Kabalagala instead.

In Kabalagala, we entered a bar that had some white people but Issa said it was not good. We moved out and entered another. Here, we found a guard at the entrance with a metallic detector. Issa said that bar also was not good.

We moved to the next bar, which although had a bouncer, we entered freely. We got in and watched the second half of the game. Issa bought us sodas although Edris refused to take. We stepped out and saw a big group of Ethiopians moving down. Issa said we should follow them—and we entered the Ethiopian Restaurant.
It was my first to visit the place. Issa ordered for pizza but the waiter said they only served Ethiopian delicacies. We sat there briefly and moved out.
They (Issa and Edris) whispered that the place was good and would work for us. We the boarded a taxi to town and agreed that we meet the next morning. I told Issa that I spend Saturdays with my wife but he begged that I join them, advising that I help my wife with chores on Sunday.

On Saturday, we met at a salon at Majestic Plaza. After trimming his hair, Issa told me he had a tight programme since he was moving out of the country that evening. He promised to give me keys to his house—where he would take me after. He also promised to buy me drugs for sinuses.

We separated and met later at 3pm and boarded a taxi to his home (he had earlier refused to take me to the house). At the house, there was a Somali man—and another man was in another room. Issa got in and prayed before introducing me to the team in Kiswahili as Abdul Karim.

When I asked him why he had introduced me using false names, he said, “Those people are not supposed to know you—and you should not know them.”
I got scared. He went to his room and gestured to me to follow. He showed me the two bags used to carry the laptops. I was to carry one bag and Edris would carry the other—to places he knew. I asked what the bags contained; he frankly told me they were bombs.

I was shocked. But later, I made a decision to take the bag to a place they had told me. When I reached Makindye House, a waiter came and I ordered for a drink but there were no seats. I asked him to get me a chair so that I could sit at the back.
There were flowers there and I placed the bag beneath, stood up quickly and walked out of the place.

I stopped a boda boda who asked for Shs4,000 to take me to Namasuba. While on the boda boda, I started dissembling the phone as I was instructed .When I reached Namasuba, I went to a house that I had rented before.

I asked for a key for the toilet and I dumped the phone there. I then boarded a taxi to my home where I found my wife looking disappointed. She had tried calling my phone for the past two days to no avail.

She later served me tea and continued listening to the World Cup final on a radio. At this point, news began breaking on radio. Bombs had exploded at Kyadondo Rugby Club, killing people.

I got so scared and that I failed to sleep the whole night because I knew about the plot. Issa had told me never to disclose this to anyone. But it became unbearable and I called my brother Muzapharu Luyima who works at Pioneer Mall.

I told him I was sick and needed him to take me to a clinic. When he arrived in his car, I explained the whole story to him and he got frightened. I requested him to take me to town and he refused. I boarded a taxi to town and later Bwaise- Kazo where my second wife lives.

She was also disappointed she had spent days without hearing from me. I developed the idea of going back to Sudan. I called my friend -Rajab who works in Juba and he accepted to receive me. But life was not easy in Juba and after a week I decided to return to Kampala. Rajab got me transport and I jumped on the next bus to Kampala .

Read the fourth suspect, Mohamoud Mugisha’s narrative, in the Saturday Monitor tomorrowE.