Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Uganda’s Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura has issued a new nationwide terror alert following intelligence information indicating that Al-shabab cell has hatched fresh plans to attack Uganda, Kenya and Somalia, security sources said on Tuesday.The information about the attack was received from both Ugandan operatives in Somalia and International police informers.
This is the fifth terror alert being issued by the police since the beginning of this year. Unlike terror alerts issued in recent pasts, there is no mention of the target of the planned attacked this time round.
Uganda Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga says the terror plan which targets the Ramadan period has already been carried out in Somalia.
On Sunday, a Somali soldier and four militants were killed following an attack that targeted a training ground used by intelligence officers in Mogadishu.
Enanga says security has been beefed up at vital installations and institutions that are likely to be targeted by terrorists.
Uganda is the key contributor to the African Union’s AMISOM force battling Al-Shabab inside Somalia and has been targeted since its forces entered the Al-shabab then stronghold.
In 2010 Al-Shabaab carried out twin bombings in Kampala targeting the Ethiopian restaurant and Kyadondo Rugby club where football fans were watching the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. 76 people died in the attacks.
The militants were also behind the September 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall in neighbouring Kenya’s capital Nairobi which, left at least 67 dead.