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A new video from al-Qaida-linked militants targeting Uganda and Burundi embassies worldwide has surfaced, raising security concerns in Kampala about the possibility of another terror strike.
An American-based terror monitoring group on Friday put Uganda and Burundi on the alert after it intercepted a video aired on the terrorists’ “news channel,” even as security chiefs in Kampala described the new threat as a mere “chestnut”.
The Coordinator of Intelligence Agencies, Gen. David Tinyefuza, Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and the army yesterday dared al Shabaab militants and once more vowed to stop any terror attack on Ugandan soil and its missions abroad. “Our resolve now is even stronger because we know they are a real threat now,” Gen. tinyefuza said. “We are not going to back down and I wonder what makes those terrorists think that they can make Somalia a graveyard for our soldiers.”
Countries notified
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume said the government had notified all the countries that host Uganda’s embassies about the terror threats. “All embassies are on high alert and it’s responsibilities of the host country to ensure the security of our missions abroad,” he said.
Army Spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the security was aware of all al Shabaab activities. He said security will do everything to ensure that lives and properties of Ugandans are protected worldwide. Discounting the al Shabaab threats, Lt. Col. Kulayigye said: “Even the positions they have been holding in Mogadishu have been taken away from them. So what are they talking about?”
The July 11 blasts in Kampala that killed more than 80 soccer fans were the worst in East Africa since the 1998 dead twin bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. There are currently an estimated 6,300 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, even as security analysts argue that no amount of external military capability has ever brought the war-ragged Somalia to heal.
Volatile Somalia
Somalia, which has not had a functioning central government in more than two decades, is experiencing an upsurge in violence and increased civilian casualties. The African Union last week agreed to boost its peacekeeping force in Somalia by sending another 4,000 troops. However, to pre-empty any further terror attacks, Mr Mbabazi told Sunday Monitor that the government would soon announce new security measures. “We are now going to inconvenience a bit of that freedom as one of the measures to ensure that everybody is safe,” Mr Mbabazi said.
A new video from al-Qaida-linked militants targeting Uganda and Burundi embassies worldwide has surfaced, raising security concerns in Kampala about the possibility of another terror strike.
An American-based terror monitoring group on Friday put Uganda and Burundi on the alert after it intercepted a video aired on the terrorists’ “news channel,” even as security chiefs in Kampala described the new threat as a mere “chestnut”.
The Coordinator of Intelligence Agencies, Gen. David Tinyefuza, Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and the army yesterday dared al Shabaab militants and once more vowed to stop any terror attack on Ugandan soil and its missions abroad. “Our resolve now is even stronger because we know they are a real threat now,” Gen. tinyefuza said. “We are not going to back down and I wonder what makes those terrorists think that they can make Somalia a graveyard for our soldiers.”
Countries notified
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume said the government had notified all the countries that host Uganda’s embassies about the terror threats. “All embassies are on high alert and it’s responsibilities of the host country to ensure the security of our missions abroad,” he said.
Army Spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the security was aware of all al Shabaab activities. He said security will do everything to ensure that lives and properties of Ugandans are protected worldwide. Discounting the al Shabaab threats, Lt. Col. Kulayigye said: “Even the positions they have been holding in Mogadishu have been taken away from them. So what are they talking about?”
The July 11 blasts in Kampala that killed more than 80 soccer fans were the worst in East Africa since the 1998 dead twin bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. There are currently an estimated 6,300 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, even as security analysts argue that no amount of external military capability has ever brought the war-ragged Somalia to heal.
Volatile Somalia
Somalia, which has not had a functioning central government in more than two decades, is experiencing an upsurge in violence and increased civilian casualties. The African Union last week agreed to boost its peacekeeping force in Somalia by sending another 4,000 troops. However, to pre-empty any further terror attacks, Mr Mbabazi told Sunday Monitor that the government would soon announce new security measures. “We are now going to inconvenience a bit of that freedom as one of the measures to ensure that everybody is safe,” Mr Mbabazi said.
