Security hunts for Somali terrorists
Nov 08, 2009
SECURITY is investigating reports that a number of Al Shabaab Islamists have entered the country following their threat to strike Kampala and Bujumbura last month.
By Milton Olupot
SECURITY is investigating reports that a number of Al Shabaab Islamists have entered the country following their threat to strike Kampala and Bujumbura last month.
Sources within the Joint Anti-Terrorism squad yesterday told The New Vision that three British nationals of Somali descent are suspected to have sneaked into the country in the last three weeks.
“Security is on the alert and provided with details and photographs of the suspects. We are not leaving anything to chance,†the source said yesterday.
The three have been identified as Walla Eldin Abdel Rahman, born on September 1, 1982 and bearing passport number 039813894 and Sakrih Mohammed, born on February 6, 1985 and bearing passport number 012726483.
The third suspect is known under four different names: Halway Carpet, Omar Yusuf, Bilal Berjawi and Bilal el Berjaour. He was born on September 28, 1984 and bears three passports with the numbers 301307039, 303941310 and 800307153.
Following the threats, a countrywide registration of all Somalis is being carried out to identify new arrivals.
In Kampala, the security has been beefed up in Kisenyi, a suburb with a big Somali population.
A joint force of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and the anti-terrorism squad is deployed there.
President Yoweri Museveni recently warned the Islamist rebels that they would pay a heavy price if they attacked Kampala.
“Those groups, I would advise them to concentrate on solving their own problems. If they decide to attack us, they will pay heavily because we know how to deal with those who attack us,†he told journalists at the end of the African Union summit in Kampala last month.
He warned that Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia would pursue and attack the rebels if they acted on their threat.
The militants issued the threats after they claimed that rocket attacks by the AU peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu.
“We shall make their people cry. We’ll attack Bujumbura and Kampala. We will move our fighting to those two cities and we shall destroy them,†Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, a senior al Shabaab commander, told reporters in Mogadishu.
The AU force fired back after insurgents shelled the airport as President Sharif Ahmed was boarding a plane to fly to Kampala for the summit.
Burundi and Uganda have about 4,300 peacekeepers in the Somali capital as part of the African Union’s force, dubbed AMISOM.
Gen. David Tinyefuza, the coordinator of the intelligence agencies, said on October 23 that the threat was real but not new.
“Uganda has been a target for international terrorists since 1990. Our involvement in Somalia has only raised the stakes and intensified the threat,†he said.
Asked which measures Uganda was taking against the threats, Tinyefuza said they were three-fold and involved coordination with western allies.
“We are strengthening the capability of our security systems. We are also intensifying coordination and information exchange with our international allies.â€
Uganda’s legal system, he said, was supportive of such measures since the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed.
“The third component is mobilisation. Public awareness is the most effective weapon against terrorism.â€
He noted that the Police had been issuing terror alerts to the public, transport organisations as well as hotels.
AMISOM comes under near-daily attacks from roadside bombs and rebel artillery. Two months ago, al Shabaab hit its main headquarters with a twin suicide car bombing that killed 17 peacekeepers, including the Burundian deputy force commander.
Several African nations had committed to send troops to reinforce AMISOM, which needs 8,000 soldiers to secure Mogadishu alone, but have so far failed.
In meetings in Kampala, Somali elders, some of whom fought in the Somali wars, vowed to cooperate with Uganda’s security services to defeat the militants.
SECURITY is investigating reports that a number of Al Shabaab Islamists have entered the country following their threat to strike Kampala and Bujumbura last month.
Sources within the Joint Anti-Terrorism squad yesterday told The New Vision that three British nationals of Somali descent are suspected to have sneaked into the country in the last three weeks.
“Security is on the alert and provided with details and photographs of the suspects. We are not leaving anything to chance,†the source said yesterday.
The three have been identified as Walla Eldin Abdel Rahman, born on September 1, 1982 and bearing passport number 039813894 and Sakrih Mohammed, born on February 6, 1985 and bearing passport number 012726483.
The third suspect is known under four different names: Halway Carpet, Omar Yusuf, Bilal Berjawi and Bilal el Berjaour. He was born on September 28, 1984 and bears three passports with the numbers 301307039, 303941310 and 800307153.
Following the threats, a countrywide registration of all Somalis is being carried out to identify new arrivals.
In Kampala, the security has been beefed up in Kisenyi, a suburb with a big Somali population.
A joint force of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and the anti-terrorism squad is deployed there.
President Yoweri Museveni recently warned the Islamist rebels that they would pay a heavy price if they attacked Kampala.
“Those groups, I would advise them to concentrate on solving their own problems. If they decide to attack us, they will pay heavily because we know how to deal with those who attack us,†he told journalists at the end of the African Union summit in Kampala last month.
He warned that Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia would pursue and attack the rebels if they acted on their threat.
The militants issued the threats after they claimed that rocket attacks by the AU peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu.
“We shall make their people cry. We’ll attack Bujumbura and Kampala. We will move our fighting to those two cities and we shall destroy them,†Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, a senior al Shabaab commander, told reporters in Mogadishu.
The AU force fired back after insurgents shelled the airport as President Sharif Ahmed was boarding a plane to fly to Kampala for the summit.
Burundi and Uganda have about 4,300 peacekeepers in the Somali capital as part of the African Union’s force, dubbed AMISOM.
Gen. David Tinyefuza, the coordinator of the intelligence agencies, said on October 23 that the threat was real but not new.
“Uganda has been a target for international terrorists since 1990. Our involvement in Somalia has only raised the stakes and intensified the threat,†he said.
Asked which measures Uganda was taking against the threats, Tinyefuza said they were three-fold and involved coordination with western allies.
“We are strengthening the capability of our security systems. We are also intensifying coordination and information exchange with our international allies.â€
Uganda’s legal system, he said, was supportive of such measures since the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed.
“The third component is mobilisation. Public awareness is the most effective weapon against terrorism.â€
He noted that the Police had been issuing terror alerts to the public, transport organisations as well as hotels.
AMISOM comes under near-daily attacks from roadside bombs and rebel artillery. Two months ago, al Shabaab hit its main headquarters with a twin suicide car bombing that killed 17 peacekeepers, including the Burundian deputy force commander.
Several African nations had committed to send troops to reinforce AMISOM, which needs 8,000 soldiers to secure Mogadishu alone, but have so far failed.
In meetings in Kampala, Somali elders, some of whom fought in the Somali wars, vowed to cooperate with Uganda’s security services to defeat the militants.