Suicide Bombers Blew Themselves Up Accidentally After Planning To Bomb Part Of Stadium During Nigeria/ Ethiopia Match

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 yesterday.

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:Reuters