It was a macabre attack. Grotesque in nature. Barbaric.
In fact, from what our revolutionary leader, President Yoweri Museveni said, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) cowardly terrorists who committed this recent heinous crime are part of the group that sneaked into the country following an intense onslaught that the mighty Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has in recent past mounted on terror bases in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The cowards killed two foreign tourists and a Ugandan tour guide. It was a black Tuesday.
These sad events that happened at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Western Uganda should be condemned in the strongest terms possible by all Ugandans.
These gruesome terror episodes should also be used as a rallying point by all citizens against terrorism.
Queen Elizabeth Park shares a border with the DRC and its renowned Virunga National Park, a habitat for rare mountain gorillas.
It is at the Virunga Forest jungles that the remnants of ADF, mainly operate from.
According to our leader, Museveni, who has fought many battles to secure peace and stability in Uganda and Africa, there are still some gaps, which the ADF remnants, running away from UPDF operations in DRC exploit to stage the attacks in Queen Elizabeth National Park on the Ugandan side.
This is not the first time.
Last Friday, ADF rebels burned a civilian’s truck trailer and killed at least one occupant in a road ambush in Kasese, about two km from the border with the DRC.
In June, ADF rebels attacked a school in Kasese killing more than 40 people.
The UPDF has been tracking these fugitive groups all these years, and closely following their tracks.
President Yoweri Museveni, who is a General of African resistance, has already warned of possible retaliatory attacks by ADF rebels following military air strikes on their camps in eastern DRC.
Ugandan troops, together with their DRC counterparts, have been jointly fighting the rebel group since November 2022.
President Yoweri Museveni, has also warned that whoever executed the cowardly attack on tourists and their Ugandan driver, will pay with their own wretched lives.
Already security within Queen Elizabeth National Park and all border points between Uganda and DRC has been elevated and heightened.
This also calls for nearby communities to be alert. Community policing should also be increased.
Why? This is because some ADF remnants might easily mingle into community.
So, in order to support President Museveni’s fight against terrorism, all citizens must be on the look out for new and unfamiliar faces within the community, and report them to the nearby authorities.
This is not to say that visitors should be chased. No! This only means that people should be alert because you can tell motive of the enemy.
Although initially a Ugandan-based group, the ADF operates mainly in the DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces, where it has been implicated in dozens of attacks, including bombings.
This means that these terrorists have some footprints in Uganda.
The ADF also executed suicide bombings in Kampala in late 2021.
In the aftermath, Uganda launched a joint security operation dubbed Shujja with DRC at border areas against ADF strongholds.
From that time ADF has been scampering for life, with remnants sneaking into border communities near Uganda and the DRC border.
This calls for caution near potential attack targets, including markets, security installations, and other crowded or sensitive locations as these terrorists plan possible localised disruptions proximate to DRC border areas.
So, as the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of armed forces hunts down these ADF renmants, with the UPDF combing all their cover-points, all Ugandans should remain cooperative if stopped for checks.
Foreign nationals should always carry their passports, as well as register and maintain contact with their diplomatic missions.
If we heed all official security and transport advisories, certainly we shall have actively joined or supported President Museveni’s fight against terrorism.
The writer is the Deputy RDC for Manafwa district.
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