Uganda seizes explosives, suicide vests from suspected al Shabaab cell
Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:42pm GMT
(Adds additional details from interview)
By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Police in the Ugandan capital Kampala seized
"substantial amounts of explosives" and suicide vests in raids on a
suspected al Shabaab cell that was planning an imminent attack, a Ugandan
official said in an interview on Sunday.
Police arrested 19 people in the operation on Saturday, and Information
Minister Rose Namayanja urged the public to "remain vigilant" as Uganda
continues its investigation into the planned attack.
"The operation is still going on," Namayanja said. "We just want to ensure
that we exhaust all the leads so that there are no more terrorist cells."
Ugandan authorities say they have increased security at hotels and other key
sites, including Entebbe International Airport, since making the arrests.
Last week a senior al Shabaab official said the Somali militant Islamist
group would target Americans in New York and Washington and "capture Kenya
and Uganda."
"Anything could have happened," if the plot had not been foiled, Namayanja
said.
She said the government believes the Kampala cell had links to al Shabaab
but did not provide evidence linking the two, saying only that al Shabaab
has attacked Uganda before.
The discovery of the alleged cell came as Kenya prepared to mark the first
anniversary of an al Shabaab attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in
which 67 people were killed.
In 2010, al Shabaab bombed sports bars in Uganda where people were watching
soccer's World Cup on television.
Both Kenya and Uganda contribute troops as part of the African Union
peacekeeping force battling al Shabaab in Somalia.
The militant group has threatened more attacks since the killing of their
leader Ahmed Godane in a U.S. strike earlier this month.
Al Shabaab has been reasserting itself in recent days following the death of
Godane and the appointment of his successor, little-known Ahmad Umar.
Last week, the group targeted two military convoys near the Somali capital,
Mogadishu, and on Saturday militants gunned down a senior Somali national
security officer in his car, according to local police and an al Shabaab
spokesman. (Additional reporting and writing by Edith Honan; Editing by
Rosalind Russell)