Al-Shabab (The Youth), the Somalia-based Islamic militant movement with strong links to al-Qaida, claimed credit for the 11 July twin bombings in Kampala, Uganda, which killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 50.  The attacks struck a popular outdoor Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club in another part of the city.  Both were filled with people watching the World Cup.  Among the fatalities was an American employed by the charity Invisible Children.

 

The attacks bore hallmarks of Global Jihad, synchronization, a focus on venues at which foreigners could be expected to be present and an intention to inflict mass casualties.  It is also worth noting that they took place on the 11th of the month, a date favored by Islamic militants intent on paying homage to the 9/11 assailants, and that suicide bombers may have been involved.

 

Al-Shabab previously had threatened to stage attacks in Uganda, which participates in an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.  It also has threatened repeatedly to strike in Ethiopia, which it despises for intervening militarily in Somalia in coordination with Washington, in Kenya and Djibouti, which also cooperate strategically with the US, and in Burundi, which also participates in the African Union peacekeeping force.

 

The attacks appear to signal a dramatic ratcheting up of risks from Global Jihad in Kenya and the rest of East Africa.