Islamist militants have attacked the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 15 people in a suicide attack. The rebel group Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Witnesses say two cars pulled up to the checkpoint at the airport’s main entrance 9 September and one of them exploded. Militants jumped out of the other and attacked guards. At least two Ugandan African Union soldiers are among the dead. All five attackers were killed.
Links to other sites: BBC, CNN, Hindustan Times
Two bombs have killed more than 60 people and wounded scores of World Cup fans watching at two popular locations in the Ugandan capital Kampala late 11 July, minutes before the end of the final match between Spain and the Netherlands. At one location, the Ethiopan Garden, a bomb was left underneath a table. The second bomb went off at a rugby club on the outskirts of the city.
“We have 64 dead and 65 injured. The nationalities of all the fatalities will be released later,” Judith Nabakooba, Uganda’s national police spokesman, told Al-Jazeera.
Foreigners, including one American, are feared dead. No one has claimed responsibility for the action, but the Somali Islamist rebel group Al-Shaabab linked to al-Qaeda is suspected. Ugandan troops serve in the UN peacekeeping force in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, CNN
A British couple from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK have been seized by pirates while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania. A spokesman for the pirates confirmed to a local New York Times reporter in Somalia by telephone that the couple was being taken to Xarardheere, a pirate stronghold on the Somali coast north of Mogadishu, and that ransom demands would be made after they arrived.
A few hours later the spokesman called back to say that the pirates and their captives had been attacked by a “naval forces”, and that two of the pirates’ vessels had been sunk. Another version says that the pirates scuttled their own boats, and that they were all aboard the captured sailboat. They were expected in Xarardheere yesterday but have not arrived.
The couple was on a round-the-world trip in their 12 m sloop Lynn Rival. They are experienced sailors. New York Times, The Times
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