Uganda Police issues a terror alert as….
…..5 suspected Terrorists sneak into the country. – By Nangayi Guyson in Kampala,Uganda – Uganda Police on Thursday issued a terror alert after it said in the statement that suspected Terrorists are planning to enter the country with the intent to carry out attacks.
Suspected terrorists
Deputy police spokesperson, Vincent Ssekate on Thursday released the names of the suspected Al Shabaab terrorists who are expected to have entered the country from Somalia.
Police said “We have received information that five terrorists have entered or are about to enter Uganda”.
The suspected Terrorists are in the names of ALI BALAM ADAN, NAM A.AMUR, ABUDALLAH AHMED ABUDALLAH, ABDERRAOUP JDEY, and MOHAMED NOR ALI who are believed to be active members of radical organizations planning to commit attacks and participate in hostile acts.
Ugandans are asked to be on the watch over the suspected terrorists and also to be Security consciousness, ensure that premises are kept neat and clean, look out for suspicious and abandoned items, eliminate bomb shelters, access-control buildings/venues/events and subject vehicles to checks before entry into any premises or packing yards among other measures.
The Uganda Police said it is stepping up security to avert these evil plans but added that their efforts alone are not enough. It asked Ugandans to follow the below measures:
Security Consciousness. As you move about be conscious of your surroundings at all times. Take interest in what goes on in your neighbourhoods. Look out for strange and suspicious looking people and demand for their identity and inform any LC official or the nearest police post and/or any security officer in the vicinity.
- Look out for suspicious or abandoned items or packages e.g. bags, cars, boxes, unexpected gifts, flowers, flasks, mails and parcels, abandoned suitcases, dust bins, electronics, i.e. radios watches, cameras, mobile phones, television etc and any other items with loose wires attached, and immediately inform any LC official, or the nearest police post, and/or any security officer in the vicinity. Specifically, look out, and scrutinize suspicious liquids packed in bottles and immediately alert the Police.
- Ensure that premises are kept neat and clean. All rubbish containers, excessive stock and equipment must be removed. This will decrease the possibility of an “out of place” object which may suddenly appear and could possibly be an explosive such as a bomb.
- To eliminate possible “bomb shelters/hideouts”, all rubbish cans and containers should be quickly removed from premises, especially, in passages, toilets, and in public places. All office cupboards and entry panels for wiring and plumbing must be locked away, when not in use.
- Access control to buildings/venues/events: First, there should be capable guards (who are alert, 24/7) at gates or all entry points to check everybody accessing the premises. Secondly, there should be Metal detectors, dogs (if possible) at all entrance points to detect possible intrusion of explosive materials e.g. bombs. Thirdly, security lights, alarms, etc, should, if they have not been placed along non-porous perimeter fences, be installed. Hotels, malls, supermarkets, markets such as kikubo, public buildings with underground parking should put in place additional guards/other security measures.
- Bus and taxi owners and operators, working with Police and the other security services, should put in place enhanced access control, and internal security measures both in the parks, as well as entering and within the vehicles while on the move. Vehicles should be subjected to checks before entry into any premises and/or parking yards. Metal detectors should be carried in buses and taxis to check passengers and luggage that board enroute. Drivers should be required to open the bonnet and boot under close watch of security. Vehicles should be searched and its underside scrutinized using angled mirrors. Where there are multiple entrances, and exits, particularly, the Old Taxi Park in Kampala either ensures effective access control through all of them or minimized them so that traffic flow is through one entry/exit point.
However, in 2010 during Word Cup finals, two simultaneous explosions ripped through the Ugandan capital, Kampala leaving close to 80 people dead.
Uganda has the biggest number of troops in Somalia fighting the al-Qaida linked al-Shabab militants which have always vowed to take revenge on the east Africa nation.
