Kampala attacks in Uganda: Muslim cleric accused of jihadist connections shot dead
Security forces in Uganda shot a Muslim cleric accused of working with an armed group in connection with suicide bombings in the capital, Kampala.
Authorities said that Sheikh Muhammad Aba Kirevu had recruited for the cells of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), rebels committed to the Islamic State group.
Deadly Attack
He was killed outside Kampala. At least four people were killed by motorcycle attackers who blew up in the city on Tuesday. More than 30 people were injured in the attack, IS said it was delayed and authorities blamed ADF. The Islamist militant ADF was founded in Uganda in the 1990s, but is now based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since fidelity to IS, in 2019, attacks have increasingly been carried out on behalf of the group.
Twenty-one people have been arrested since Tuesday's attack, which police have described as the dismantling of ADF terrorist cells in Kampala and across the country. Police spokesman Fred Enanga said 13 suspects, including several children, had been intercepted while trying to cross the DRC border. Four suspected ADF activists were killed near the border on Wednesday.
A manhunt is also under way for another cleric, Sheikh Suleiman Nsubuga, who is accused of training terrorists, radicalizing potential recruits and providing materials to manufacture improvised explosive devices. Tuesday's attack was the latest in a series of bomb explosions in Kampala. Last month, a 20-year-old waitress died after an artifact left in a shopping bag detonated in a bar in the city. Several people were injured days later when a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus near Kampala. Police say they're both connected to the ADF. Tuesday's bombings were the biggest attack ADF has linked to in Uganda since they built ties with ISIS.
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