Uganda arrests five more over Kampala bombings

Ugandan police have arrested five more people in connection with Sunday night’s bomb attacks in Kampala that left 74 people dead. The arrests bring the number of those in detention to 12. They include four Ethiopians and a Somali, as well as an unspecified number of Eritreans and Ugandans.

Reuters

Following the blasts, police have stepped up security for foreigners, especially of Somali descent, to protect them from revenge attacks by irate mobs who see them as linked to the Somali-based al-Shabab Islamists.

On day five of investigations, emergency lines were jammed with callers reporting bomb scares in both the capital and further north.

A team of 63 American FBI agents arrived in Uganda to help security agents with investigations. They join a smaller team of three that was dispatched in the aftermath of the attacks.

Meanwhile the Ugandan parliament has passed a bill authorising security agencies to screen personal communications for security purposes.

The Regulation of Interception of Commutations Bill allows security agencies to tap phone calls, screen postal packages and monitor personal communications via the internet.

It also mandates all telecom companies to register sim cards of their subscribers.

Security Minister Amama Mbabazi says the bill, if cleared by the president, would intercept terrorism and related crimes which are increasingly being coordinated through modern telecommunications and the internet.

The MPs had previously rejected the bill, saying it would infringe on privacy.