Maltese soldiers in Uganda safe

Three Maltese soldiers stationed in Uganda were "miles away" from the capital, Kampala, where two explosions killed at least 64 people on Sunday.

The blasts rocked a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant while football fans followed the World Cup final. Another 70 people were injured. The Armed Forces of Malta soldiers are in Uganda as part of an EU mission to train the Somali government army.

"The soldiers are not stationed in Kampala but miles away. We talked to them early this morning (yesterday) and they are in good health," an AFM spokesman said.

Ugandan police suspect the blasts were suicide bombings and blamed Somalia's al-Shabab militant Islamists, who are linked to al-Qaeda.

The Islamists control most of southern and central Somalia with the fragile interim government confined to the capital Mogadishu.

The African Union has around 5,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi stationed in the Somali capital to protect the government and they are often engaged in fights with the Islamists.