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Five suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) operatives have been arrested in an ongoing operation mounted by the joint security forces.

Three of them were arrested from Kasese district with some items, including a tent, pangas and solar panels.

Another suspect, according to Police, was arrested near Kaswabuli Secondary School at Bukonte in Namutumba district, disguising as a lunatic.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says another suspect was picked from Masindi with explosives suspected to be used in bomb-making.

Enanga made the revelations on Tuesday during a media briefing at Police headquarters at Naguru, Kampala.

Suspected ADF attacks

The arrests follow two late December 2023 attacks suspected to have been orchestrated by ADF operatives in Kamwenge district. The first attack, which claimed 10 lives, was on December 18, while the second was on Christmas Day and left three people dead.

Delivering his after Christmas message on December 28, 2023, President Yoweri Museveni warned ADF that they will never disrupt the harmony and impose sharia law on Uganda.

Museveni who was commenting on the recent attacks by the ADF terrorists in Kamwenge and the killing of their commanders on Thursday, December 28, 2023, said: “The ADF to think that they can disrupt this harmony and impose sharia law on Uganda, is the height of disorientation. Only parasites can think like that; moreover, parasites who are very shallow. Our strong heritage has been here for the last four and half million years. Yes, we can benefit from elements of the new religions (Christianity and Islam), but to think that you can turn us into Europeans or Arabs, is the height of lack of seriousness”. 

Redeployment of LDUs

Because of these attacks, the President directed the army to reactivate the force of the Local Defence Units in the areas surrounding Queen Elizabeth National Parks, Kibaale Forests, the forests in Kyenjojo and Kagadi, Semuliki National Park and Bwindi National Park.  

"Since the terrorists cowardly attack soft targets in the form of unarmed civilians, we are reactivating our old method of transforming the village soft targets into lethal local hard points.  We are not short of manpower.  It only means deploying more resources to support the manpower," he said.