Terrorists struck in Uganda on Sunday night, targeting crowds watching the final World Cup match. At least 64 people were murdered in two bombings, one at a rugby club and the other at an Ethiopian restaurant. Several dozen people were wounded.
Police believe the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, was behind the bombings. If their suspicions are confirmed, it will be the first time the group is known to have attacked beyond Somalia's borders.
Senior Al-Shabab member Sheikh Yousuf Issa expressed satisfaction following the attacks, but did not confirm or deny that his group was responsible for the massacre.
The attacks took place less than a week after an Al-Shabab leader, Sheikh Muktar Robow, called for terrorist attacks against Uganda and Burundi. Both countries contribute troops to the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
The African Union force has frequently been attacked by Islamic terrorist groups in Somalia. Two particularly deadly suicide bombings were carried out in February and September of 2009, killing 11 and 21 people respectively. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Al-Shabab includes many terrorists who have fought coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has also recruited young men from Somali communities in the United States. The group has raised Somalia towards the top of the list of terrorist attack casualties; according to the Middle East Forum, 350 people were murdered by Muslim terrorists in Somalia in June of this year alone.
Among the victims of the Sunday night bombings were members of a church group from Pennsylvania. One of the dead was a United States citizen, and three U.S. citizens were wounded.