Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni says his government is prepared to fight terrorism of all kinds. [File, Standard]
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has identified the three suicide bombers, who blew themselves up in Kampala on Tuesday.
One of the suicide bombers, whose improvised device exploded near the Central Police Station at 10:03am, has been identified as Mansoor Uthman.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Jubilee Insurance Building, three minutes later. President Museveni has identified the duo as Wanjusi Abdallah and Matovu Muzafari.
At 10:30am, police tracked down a fourth suspected suicide bomber, who was arrested at Katooke area.
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The suspect, Musa Mudasiri, who had been shot and injured, gave out the names of the other three suicide bombers, Museveni said.
The President said the attackers belonged to a long-standing insurgent group, the Allied Defence Forces, “that attacked and injured [Uganda's Transport minister and former Army commander] Gen. Katumba Wamala in June 2021”.
Katumba’s daughter and driver were killed in the shooting. Witnesses said men on motorbikes fired several shots at their vehicle near their home in Kampala.
“As I told the country before, by attacking Gen. Katumba, these terrorists, exposed themselves at a time when our security (anti-crime) infrastructure has improved, compared to what it was in 2018 when I made the speech to Parliament,” Museveni said in his statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday night.
“Since the attack on Gen. Katumba, the following has been achieved: seven [suspected terrorists] have been killed while resisting arrest, 81 have been arrested, three have been killed by the bombs they were carrying.
“The two of today (Tuesday, November 16) were, therefore, running away from being arrested. We have been hunting for them since the Katumba incident,” said the President.
Museveni said three civilians died in the Tuesday attack, while 36 people were injured.
“The suicide bombers at both CPS and IGG office were forced to detonate their bombs at the checkpoint of police outside and also outside of the IGG office. Therefore, the public should maintain vigilance of checking people at entry points to parks, churches, mosques, markets, etc,” he said.
Museveni said Uganda was “more than ready for urban terrorism (sic)”.
“They will perish. Rural terrorism was defeated in 2007 in the Semliki National Park. I am referring to the dead terrorists as manipulated victims of confusion… The terrorists invited us and we are coming for them."
