Kampala – Police are hunting for five suspects believed to be part of a cell that was targeting to terrorize Ugandans.
This follows an incident on Sunday in which an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) was safely detonated at Pastor Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Centre Cathedral in Rubaga, Kampala.
In the Sunday incident, the joint police team of counterterrorism, canine, and crime intelligence, together with the Kampala Metropolitan Police that had been deployed at Miracle Center Cathedral intercepted a suspected terrorist who had disguised as a churchgoer.
According to Fred Enanga the police spokesperson, the suspect, a one Abdul Rahman Kintu (28) was arrested at the main entrance to the church in Kayanja triangle zone, Rubaga parish in Kampala district.
“… We recovered an IED on him and immediately after his arrest, he was handed over to the Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force, CMI, ISO, and CI, and the scene was processed by the bomb squad and our forensic teams who jointly detonated the device at the scene. The scene was re-examined and we recovered several items which showed that this was an IED that was constructed using a food flask,” said Enanga while addressing journalists at police headquarters in Nagulu, Kampala on Monday.
Enanga said that the suspect, a resident of Mbizinya village, Buwama Sub-county in Mpigi district was one of the suspects who was on the wanted list of Chief Military Intelligence.
He noted that upon interrogation, the suspect disclosed that his cell was involving six members, including himself. Enanga said the police are now actively searching for the five other co-conspirators who are still at large.
“He also managed to lead us to their rented house at Lunguja Zone 8 where we recovered three constructed IEDs-the rental unit belongs to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. And our bomb experts also managed to take control and they detonated the three IEDs and recovered ingredients of evidential value,” said Enanga
He noted that investigations are continuing to establish whether the suspect is linked to a terrorist group or not, and also to locate where his co-conspirators are and have them arrested.
Meanwhile, two more IEDs have been recovered at a guest house in Ngobe Bunamwaya, Wakiso district on Monday. Also, there were suspicions that there could be an IED planted at Mabito business center in Natete Central B Zone, Kampala. By press time, Enanga said the canine and bomb squad were still trying to verify the package.
Enanga calls upon the public to be vigilant and where they observe an unusual activity or behavior to immediately alert the police.
“We call upon anybody with the information regarding these bomb threats to call our National Operations Command Center on 0776999136 or 0707600773 or toll-free number 0800199699,” Said Enanga
In July, the UK government warned of attacks that “could be indiscriminate or against foreign nationals or places frequented by foreign nationals in Uganda.
In November 2021 twin blasts rocked the Central Police Station and along Parliamentary Avenue in Kampala leaving several people dead. Ugandan security has since busted several terrorist cells and members either arrested or killed.
