From: Leo Odera Omolo
Date: Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Writes Leo Odera Omolo
KAMPALA, THE Ugandan capital City has been placed under twenty four hours state of alertness, following reports that three members al Shabaab insurgent group, carrying British passports, have secretly sneaked into the country.
The country security network is actively investigating these reports that three suspected islamist terrorists have gained entry into the country in the last three weeks, following their threats to attack Kampala and Bujumbura last month.
The NEWVISION, the government owned daily, reported this morning that a source within the Joint Anti-Terrorist Squad, has revealed that the three British nationals of Somali descent are suspected to have sneaked into Uganda in the last three weeks.
The country’s security network system has been put into a state of alertness for twenty four hours. All the security branches in the country have been provided with the photographs of the suspected al-Shabaab terrorists. ”We are not leaving anything to chance”, a source within the security system said on Sunday.
The three suspected Somali terrorists have been identified as Walla Eldin Rehman, born on September 1, 1982 and bearing passport number 033813894 and Sakrih Mohammed, born on February 1985 and bearing passport number 012726483.
The third subject is known under three different names;Halway Corpet, allias Omar Yusuf ilali Barjawi and Bilal el Bejaour and was born on 28th September 1984. This particular man is bearing three passports numbers 301307039,303941319 and 800307153. All are issued by the British Passport office in London.
Following the threats, Uganda launched a countrywide registration of all Somalis. It was carried out for the purpose of identifying all the new arrivals.
In Kampala City, the security has been beefed up in various suburbs as well as in the City Centre. Kisenyi suburb, which has the biggest concentration of Somalis, has been issued with the largest number of security agents, uniformed police and military intelligence personnel.
A joint force of the Chieftaincy Military Intelligence [CMI}, the Internal Security Organization [ISO} and the Anti-Terrorist Squad is deployed in all corners of the City Center and its environs.
President Museveni recently warned the Islamist rebels in Somalia that they would pay a heavy price if they dare attacked Kampala.
“These groups, I would like to advice to concentrate on solving their own problems, but if they decide to attack us, they will pay heavily because we know how to deal with those who attack us “, the president had said.
The Ugandan head of state warned that Uganda peacekeepers in Somalia would pursue and attack the rebels if they acted on their threats.
The Al Shabaab militants issued the threat after they claimed that rocket fired by the au peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
“We shall make their people cry. We will attack Bujumbura and Kampala. We will move our fighters to those two cities. And we shall destroy them”, Said Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, a senior Al Shabaab commander, told the journalist in Mogadishu. He is believed to have been trained by al Qaeda in Afaghanistan.
Reports emerging from Mogadishu said the AU forces fired back the rocket after the Islamist insurgents had shelled the Mogadishu airport in a vain attempt to prevent the Somali President, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from leaving the capital on his way to attend the last Month’s Kampala Summit of the African union on refugees, displaced persons and returnees. The shelling came moments when the President was just boarding the plane. He, however, took off and flew to Kampala as scheduled.
The Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda groups have vowed to topple the president of the Transitional government of Somalia which is backed by both the AU and UN.
Uganda and Burundi have about 4,500 peacekeepers in Somalia as part of the AU force, dubbed AMISOM.
The NEWVISION quoted General David Tinyefuza, the coordinator of the country’s intelligence agencies, as saying that last month’s threat was real, but not a new one.
“Uganda has been a target for international terrorists since 1990. Our involvement in Somalia has only raised the stake and intensified the threat.”
The General further stated that Uganda is strengthening its capability of its security system. ”We are also intensifying coordination and information exchange with our Western and international allies”.
Ends
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Subject: UGANDA IN A MAJOR MAN HUNT FOR THREE SOMALI TERRORISTS SUSPECTED TO HAVE SNEAKED INTO THE COUNTRY SECRETLY, WITH A MISSION TO ATTACK KAMPALA.