Uganda says bus blast victim was suicide bomber

The explosion that killed one person and injured several others on a bus Monday night near Kampala and was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group was the result of a suicide attack, Ugandan police announced Tuesday.

"We can confirm that the incident is the result of a suicide attack with the only victim being the perpetrator," said police spokesman Fred Enanga, noting that the suicide bomber was on the wanted list of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group.

Monday's blast in Lungala, about 30 km west of Kampala on the road to DR Congo, followed a bomb attack in a Kampala cafe that killed one cafe worker and injured three others on Saturday night.

The police considered the attack to be "domestic terrorism" and referred to a "crude" explosive device.

Investigators have now established "a high level of connection" between the two attacks, said Fred Enanga. "The individuals who prepared these explosive devices belong to the same group," he said.

Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State in Central Africa (Iscap) group, which presents the ADF as its regional branch.

Iscap had already claimed responsibility for an Oct. 8 bombing - with no known casualties - at a police station in Kawempe, near the site of Saturday's blast.

The ADF is a Muslim rebel group that emerged in Uganda but has been operating for nearly 30 years in DR Congo, where it is accused of killing thousands of civilians.