Uganda tightens security at major border posts

Mar 12, 2012

Security agencies have heightened surveillance at major border points following the weekend bomb attack in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi

By Mary Karugaba                          

Security agencies have heightened surveillance at major border points following the weekend bomb attack in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi that claimed six lives and injured about 60 people.

Kenyan police linked the Saturday night incident at Machakos Country Bus station to al-Shabaab, terrorist group.  It is reported that the hand grenades used in the attack were thrown from a moving vehicle.

According to news agencies, after the blast, the Kenyan security said there are remnants of al-Shabaab on Kenyan borders and urged members of the public to remain vigilant.

Colonel Cyrus Oguna of the Kenyan Defense Forces said the al-Shabaab remnants were out to cause disharmony between the forces and the local community, and he urged local residents to notify security agents about suspicious people in their villages and those visiting refugee camps.

The source said the security is on a high alert and urged members of the public to remain watchful.

"Ugandans should be vigilant at all times because the al-Shabaab are currently taking losses and need acts of public relations to keep afloat," the source said.

Ugandan army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said Uganda has not relaxed its stand on terrorism because the country is still under the threat of the terrorist group. He confirmed that Uganda is working with Kenyan on matters of joint security.

Officials from the police counter-terrorism unit declined to comment, referring the reporter to the Police spokesman, Asuman Mugenyi. He however could not to pick up the phone call.

The first al-Shabaab attack on Uganda took place on July 11, 2010 when about 80 people were killed in twin attacks in Kampala towards the final moments of the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain.

In Kenya, the al-Qaeda Islamic extremists struck in August 1998 in a  bomb attack on the US embassy that killed 213 people and injured 5,000. 

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