Somali Islamists said tonight they had carried out two bomb attacks in Uganda that killed 74 people, including an Irish woman, watching the World Cup final on television.
The explosions in the closing moments of last night's match ripped through two crowded venues in the capital Kampala - a restaurant and a rugby club.
"Right now the official figure is 74 dead," government spokesman Fred Opolot said. Among the dead were at least 28 Ugandans, an Irish woman, and 11 Ethiopians and Eritreans, while 33 of the dead had not yet been identified. There are no details of the Irish woman’s identity.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, who has just returned from a visit to Uganda, said his officials were in contact with the woman's family. He said the Irish embassy in Kampala is offering consular assistance to relatives and friends of those who may have concerns about the welfare of Irish citizens in Uganda.
"On behalf of the Government and people of Ireland, I send heartfelt sympathy to Government and people of Uganda, especially to the bereaved and I offer my best wishes for a swift recovery to the injured," he said.
The US State Department said one American citizen was killed and five injured.
Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia had already threatened to attack Uganda for sending peacekeeping troops to the anarchic country to prop up the Western-backed government.
In Mogadishu, the Islamist group confirmed it was responsible for the attacks and threatened more if Uganda kept its peacekeepers in Somalia. "Al-Shabaab was behind the two bomb blasts in Uganda," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al-Shabaab's spokesman, told reporters. "We thank the mujahideen that carried out the attack."
Police had said they suspected al-Shabaab, a group which claims links with al-Qaeda and which is fighting the fragile government in Somalia, was behind the attacks.
"At one of the scenes, investigators identified a severed head of a Somali national, which we suspect could have been a suicide bomber," said army spokesman Felix Kulayigye. "We suspect it's al-Shabaab because they've been promising this for long.”
An al-Shabaab commander in Mogadishu praised the attacks. "Uganda is a major infidel country supporting the so-called government of Somalia," said Sheikh Yusuf Isse. "We know Uganda is against Islam and so we are very happy at what has happened in Kampala. That is the best news we ever heard," he said.
Burundi, which also contributes troops to the peacekeeping mission, has stepped up security, an army spokesman said in the capital, Bujumbura. Al-Shabaab today threatened to attack Burundi if its troops remained in Somalia.
US president Barack Obama, condemning what he called deplorable and cowardly attacks, said Washington was ready to help Uganda in hunting down those responsible. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton also condemned the attacks on "innocent spectators".
One bombing targeted the Ethiopian Village restaurant, a popular night-spot which was heaving with soccer fans and is frequented by foreign visitors. The second attack struck the Lugogo Rugby Club also showing the match.
Such coordinated attacks have been a hallmark of al-Qaeda and groups linked to the network.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni visited the rugby club. "This shows you the criminality and terrorism that I have been talking about," he said. "If you want to fight, go and look for soldiers, don't bomb people watching football."
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 to oust an Islamist movement from Mogadishu. That sparked the Islamist insurgency which still rages.
The blasts come in the closing moments of the final between Spain and the Netherlands and left shocked survivors reeling among corpses and scattered chairs.
"We were watching soccer here and then when there were three minutes to the end of the match an explosion came ... and it was so loud," witness Juma Seiko said at the rugby club.
Heavily armed police cordoned off both blast sites and searched the areas with sniffer dogs while dazed survivors helped pull the wounded from the wreckage.
Uganda, east Africa's third largest economy, is attracting billions of dollars of foreign investment, especially in its oil sector and government debt markets. But investors in Uganda and neighbouring Kenya, which shares a largely porous border with Somalia, often cite the threat from Islamic militants as a serious concern.
Ugandan tourism authorities said visitors need not worry about "a one-off incident that comes once in a blue moon".
Somali president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has warned the growing number of foreign jihadists joining the Islamic insurgents posed a threat to regional security.