Two
Somali suicide bombers who had planned to kill football fans during
Ethiopia's World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria on Sunday blew
themselves up accidentally before carrying out the attack, the Ethiopian
government said on Monday.
The
explosion on Sunday happened in the upscale Bole district of the
capital, about 5 km (3 miles) from Addis Ababa Stadium where thousands
of fans were gathering for the match.
"They
were Somali nationals and plotted to carry out a suicide attack
disguised as fans on either the stadium or areas where large crowds
gathered to watch the game," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said.
Explosives,
arms, hand grenades and football shirts were found at the scene of the
blast, at a residential address an hour before kick-off, Shimeles said.
Three suspects were detained. The Bole district has a small Somali
refugee community.
"Heavy
police presence must have caused their nervousness and state of
agitation which led to the detonation that caused their own death,"
Shimeles said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Somalia's
al Shabaab Islamist rebels have vowed to exact revenge on Ethiopia for
sending troops to Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked militants,
alongside African Union forces from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
Ethiopia
says it has thwarted attacks over the past two years which it has
blamed on domestic rebel groups as well as the Somali insurgents.
However,
it has so far been spared the sorts of attacks carried out in nearby
countries - such as the siege at the Nairobi mall last month and an
attack on football fans in Uganda in 2010.
Source : Yahoo UK
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