19 July 2010, Kampala — The African Union summit opens in Kampala on July 19 amid heightened security following twin bomb attacks a week earlier.

The official theme of child and maternal mortality will likely be overshadowed by discussion of the AU's mission in Somalia.

The blasts, which killed at least 74 people and wounded 82 others watching the World Cup finals on big screens at the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kampala's Kabalagala neighbourhood, and at the Kyaddondo rugby grounds.

The attacks came just two days after a spokesperson for Somalia's al-Shabaab group, which is fighting against the weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG) for control of the country, said Uganda would be targeted for its role in the conflict.

Targeting the AU mission in Somalia

Uganda contributes the majority of the 5,000 troops in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which has helped the TFG maintain a tenuous hold over parts of the capital, Mogadishu, but little more.

"We are sending a message to every country who is willing to send troops to Somalia that they will face attacks on their territory," said al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamoud Rage following the attacks. He added that Burundi, the second-largest troop contributor to AMISOM after Uganda, "will face similar attacks if they don't withdraw.

"Bahoku Barigye, spokesperson for AMISOM, told IPS that the mission's mandate should be expanded from peace-keeping - its terms of reference originate in a U.N. resolution authorising a "training and protection" mission - to one of peace enforcement, for which more soldiers would be needed.