Islamic State claimed responsibility for bombings in Uganda Monday that killed dozens and injured dozens more, the State Department said.
In a statement issued Monday, the State Department said that the attacks, which left 72 people dead and 276 injured, were carried out by the group’s affiliate, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The statement said that at least 11 attackers took part in the attacks, using grenades and blasting bottles filled with gas cylinders in an area frequented by tourists and shoppers.
“All the perpetrators and attackers have been identified,” said the statement from State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke.
“These terrorist acts bear the hallmarks of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — Iraqi Province (ISIS) — and were carried out in support of ISIS’ hateful ideology and ideology against Uganda and other countries that have intervened in the internal affairs of Iraq and Syria,” the statement read.
According to ABC News, two suicide attackers were at the Heart of Africa Hotel and exploded themselves.
On Monday, President Yoweri Museveni told reporters that the fighters were wearing police uniforms and drove past the building where the suicide attacks occurred on a black vehicle.
Uganda suffered two other bombings in 2012, according to the BBC. In March of that year, the Uganda Police Force said a bomb exploded in Kampala during the morning rush hour. Officials said an attack was also carried out outside the National Theatre later that month. That explosion killed several people and wounded more than 50.