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UGANDA: Latest bomb blast possibly due to traders' squabble
NAIROBI, 26 April (IRIN) - Another bomb exploded in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Saturday, killing five people and injuring 14, press reports said.
However, a senior Ugandan security officer told IRIN on Monday the bomb, the third in the capital this month, was not necessarily an act of terrorism.
Recalling the chronology of events before the explosion at Kampala's Nakivubo stadium, the officer said there was a possibility the device was thrown by dealers of a local drug, mirungi or qat. The dealers had been selling the drug across the stadium wall when a policewoman arrested one of them.
"This led to a scuffle between the officer and the dealers and in an attempt to rescue their colleague, one of his lot threw a hand grenade that caused the blast. "There is high likelihood that it was a reaction from the dealers," the officer said.
Saturday's blast was the third in the capital this month and fifth since the beginning of the year.
The semi-official daily 'New Vision' said that 46 people have so far been killed and 176 injured as a result of bomb explosions in Uganda since 1997. Nearly 90 percent of terrorist-related blasts have occurred in Kampala alone. Regional analysts say they may be the work of rebels of the western-based Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
[ENDS]
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:24:41 +0300 (EAT) From: IRIN - Central and Eastern Africa <irin@ocha.unon.org>Latest bomb blast possibly due to traders' squabble [19990426]
Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D
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