Police officers pictured standing at Kooki Towers, near Central Police Station where an explosion injured several of their colleagues on November 16, 2021.PHOTO/ RACHEL MABALA
|27 admitted at Mulago after Kampala twin explosions
What you need to know:
- The explosion near the police station shattered windows while the one near the entrance to parliament saw cars parked nearby burst into flames, said police director operations, Assistant Inspector General of police (AIGP) Edward Ochom said.
At least 27 people have been admitted at Mulago National Referral Hospital following two bomb explosions in Kampala on Tuesday morning.
The first explosion happened at Kooki Towers opposite Central Police Station near Constitutional Square while the second one happened just next door along Parliamentary Avenue.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Mulago hospital deputy executive director, Dr Rosemary Byanyima said most of the injured are police officers.
Seven of the victims are said to be in critical conditions, according to Dr Byanyima.
“"We have so far received 27 casualties of the bomb blasts this morning. Seven are in critical conditions while 20 are stable. Seven of them are female and the rest are men and majority of the victims are police officers. We have not lost any patient yet,” she said.
The explosion near the police station shattered windows while the one near the entrance to parliament saw cars parked nearby burst into flames, said police director operations, Assistant Inspector General of police (AIGP) Edward Ochom said.
Police bomb squad and Red Crosss officials were seen combing the scene and attending to some of the people who were injured in the blasts.
The twin attacks follow two blasts last month -- a bus explosion near Kampala that wounded many people and a bombing at a roadside eatery in the capital that killed one woman.
Police said last month both those attacks were connected and were carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which the United States has linked to the Islamic State group.
Kyle Spencer, the executive director of Uganda's Internet Exchange Point, said Tuesday's explosions had sparked panic among many people nearby.
"The road to parliament is closed off, there are people just crying, everyone else is just trying to get away from these areas," he said.
"Everybody is evacuating office buildings and the buildings are locking up and not letting anybody inside."
Parliament cancelled
Parliament cancelled its Tuesday session following the attacks, asking members to avoid the area "as security forces are working hard to restore order".
The premises were put under tight security, with heavily armed soldiers securing the area as forensics officers in white overalls inspected the blast site for clues.
The US embassy in Kampala warned its citizens to steer clear of the area and monitor local news.
Ugandan police last month arrested a number of ADF operatives and warned that extremists were believed to be plotting a new attack on "major installations".
The ADF, historically a Ugandan rebel group, has been accused of killing thousands of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In March the United States officially linked the ADF to IS.
The ADF is considered by experts to be the bloodiest of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC, many of them a legacy of two regional wars a quarter-century ago.
