Police have informed the public to continue being vigilant especially those working in congested areas such as markets, schools and hospitals.
Speaking on Monday at Police Headquarters in Naguru, the force’s spokesperson, Fred Enanga said although the government of United Kingdom(UK) did not specify when the where the terrorist attack will be conducted in their travel advisory, the security of Uganda remains committed to the fight against any form of terrorism.
“Of course, the way the advisory was released somehow makes it difficult for Joint Security Agents to determine the specifics because it was a piece of general information. It does not mention the targets, the type of terrorist we have a known enemy is ADF. still, it does not tell us whether these threats are eminent or not but we do acknowledge their concern and we assure Ugandans that they are safe,” he said.
Enanga added that over the years Uganda has been generally peaceful but with some threats which have been there for more than a decade from the known enemy the ADF who continue to terrorize soft targets in the country.
“Despite the several terror incidents which have been carried out by the ADF, we want to assure Ugandans that the resurgence of ADF inside the county remains significantly very low because their bases in the DRC have been dismantled and a number of their domestic cells inside the country have been dismantled, even we have disrupted their activities of recruiting and radicalizing children,” he said.
Enanga urged Ugandans to share the responsibility of Uganda being safe and secure by working with the joint security agents.
“We call upon the community to stand together with the Joint security agencies to demonstrate that there is no space for terrorism in Uganda. Our focus in light of the existing alerts is to continue empowering the whole community to remain alert and maintain their safety and security in the places where they live, places of work and even where they go out for social entertainment.”
He also called upon citizens to be more vigilant with people who are using recording equipment such as camera phones.
In the advisory alert, the UK government warned its citizens living in Uganda, saying that terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the country in places that are frequented by foreign nationals.
UK therefore advised it’s citizens to be vigilant at all times, especially in crowded areas and public places like hotels, transport hubs, restaurants, and bars, and during major gatherings like sporting or religious events and when in close proximity to government buildings or security installations.
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