Africa

Africa

Weekend bomb explosion kills 1 person, injures 5 in central Uganda: police

04 February 2013 23:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A bomb explosion over the weekend killed one person and injured five others near a military installation in Kaweweta in the central Ugandan district of Nakaseke, a police spokesman said here on Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Lamec Kigozi, police spokesperson for central Uganda, told Xinhua by telephone that the device, suspected to be a bomb exploded on Saturday night as six men were burning charcoal.

"The six were burning charcoal. They were shocked when the device went off due to excessive heat. The device exploded killing one person on spot and injuring five others," said Kigozi.

"The five were rushed to Nakaseke Hospital in critical condition," he said.

He added, "We have launched the investigations to establish the device. It's highly suspected to be a bomb which was left behind during the bush days."

Nakaseke was the epicenter of the war in the 1980s that brought the country's current President Yoweri Museveni into power after launching a five year war.

During that time a lot of ammunition were buried by the rebels as they moved place to place fighting government troops.

The police said the Saturday explosion is not linked to the terror threats faced by the country from the Somali militants, Al- Shabaab.

Over 80 people were killed in twin bomb explosions that rocked Kampala, Uganda's capital in July 2010.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility of the attack in revenge of Uganda's deployment of peace keeping troops in the Somali capital Mogadishu.