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 th
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.
