Uganda: Police, Army Take Over Kampala After Airport Terror Warning

By Staff Writer

Ugandan army, police and counter terror units Thursday July 3 morning, mounted massive security sweep across Kampala and beyond following an alert of a planned terror attack on its main international airport and other key installations.

Entebbe International Airport was also the focus of attention with elements from the Joint Anti-Terror Taskforce (JATT) taking over security. 

Police confirmed earlier warnings sent out by the US Embassy to American nationals not to go through Entebbe because real time intelligence had indicated that the airport was likely to be attacked yesterday, evening.

Hundreds of officers in battle dress, some wielding high velocity sniper rifles and others light weapons patrolled the city suburbs, causing panic among city dwellers during the morning rush hour.

Ms Polly Namaye, the deputy police spokesperson, later said they had received intelligence reports, which they passed on to the US Embassy, that an unknown terrorist group would attack the airport between 9pm. to midnight.

“We couldn’t take any chances. We deployed both JATT and Counter Terrorism Police to carry out more searches,” said Namaye. 

While Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda said troops had been deployed at the airport and in the capital, about 35km (20 miles) from Entebbe.

"People must be vigilant in the face of this threat, report any suspicious individuals seen in their areas and stay calm,” he said.

No one was arrested in the operation.

The US Embassy issued an advisory to its citizens in Uganda that they should reconsider their travels through Entebbe yesterday citing the planned attack.

“The US Embassy has received information from the Uganda Police Force that according to intelligence sources, there is a specific threat to attack Entebbe International Airport by an unknown terrorist group on Thursday, July 3… Individuals planning to travel through the airport this evening may want to review their plans in light of this information,” the advisory said.

Last week, the Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, said Entebbe airport was at high risk of being attacked by terrorists.

Gen. Kayihura said a terror group had, in fact, already carried out trial runs on how they would carry out their attack. By far, yesterday’s was the largest joint operation and will probably go down as unprecedented in the annals of security deployment in recent history since the Work to Work protests in 2012.

Teams of officers erected barriers, closed off roads and carried out body searches in the city’s central business district, on the highway to the airport.

In Kampala, officers prowled all over the busy and usually crowded St Balikuddembe Market and the surrounding bus terminals as people halted their busy schedules.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Mr Patrick Onyango, said the intervention was to deter terror attacks during the World Cup finals.

Several international conferences were taking place in the city and the security forces wanted to make sure that visitors were safe, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango is quoted as saying.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman, Mr Ignie Igunduura, last evening said the situation at the airport remained normal.
“All the flights we expected have arrived and no incident has been reported yet. However, we are yet to sit to analyze the impact of the alert to the business,” Mr Igunduura said. 

However, it was not clear if there was any connection between the Kampala and Entebbe operations to similar heightened levels of security preparedness at London Heathrow and other airports in the UK where it was reported that credible intelligence pointed to a plan by terrorists to bring down an aircraft.

The operation comes 7 days to the day when Uganda marks 4 years since the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist organization launched a deadly attack on country during the World Cup finals in 2010, killing at least 78 people in twin bombings at Kyadondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala, in Kampala. 

The same group warned recently that they will repeat similar attacks in this period.

Kenya has already been attacked by the same group several times in the past two years since Operation Linda Nchi was launched in Somalia by the Kenya Defence Force, with the deadliest being the 2013 Siege of Westgate Mall in Nairobi and the latest being Mpeketoni attacks along the Kenyan coast which the government claimed to be politically motivated along ethnic lines.