- A South African and a Briton have been killed in a Ugandan terrorist attack while on honeymoon.
- Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni says the terrorists will pay with their lives.
- The rebel Allied Democratic Forces hiding in DRC are suspected to be behind the new wave of attacks.
- The Queen Elizabeth National Park is a popular destination among South Africans.
Two tourists killed in an attack, one South African and the other British, were in Uganda on their honeymoon, authorities in that country say.
Uganda has blamed the attack on rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
The honeymooners were killed along with their tour guide, and their vehicle was burnt to ashes just outside Queen Elizabeth National Park, a popular destination for South African tourists.
"It was a cowardly act on the part of the terrorists attacking innocent civilians and tragic for the couple who were newlyweds and visiting Uganda on their honeymoon," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement.
Museveni vowed that "these terrorists will pay with their own wretched lives".
The victims have not yet been named.
While declaring war on terrorism, Museveni noted that it won't bring back their lives but said his government would work with the deceased's families to assist them in any way possible.
He added:
Museveni said it was a "mistake" that the couple was killed and it was due to a security lapse which state security arms should plug.
"There were a few gaps in the handling of these remnants (ADF). Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) was guarding tourists once they were in the park. However, apparently, the tourists were arriving and departing individually. It is this gap that they (terrorists) used," he said.
Museveni said the killing was the work of a "small" group of terrorists fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
. @FredEnanga1 "We have registered a cowardly terrorist attack on two foreign tourists and a Ugandan in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The three were killed, and their safari vehicle burnt. Our joint forces responded immediately upon receiving the information and are aggressively… pic.twitter.com/fuoL1bEsvs
— Uganda Police Force (@PoliceUg) October 17, 2023
The Ugandan forces, since last month, have been bombing locations on the DRC side of the border where the rebel ADF were hiding.
In retaliation to shelling by Ugandan forces on their hideouts, the ADF then launched a series of terrorist attacks on civilians in southern Uganda.
One of the attacks was thwarted when bombs planted in churches in Kibibi, and Butambala were reported to the police and the Bomb Squad moved to defuse them.
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