Ugandan police arrest Somalis over alleged explosives
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Police in Kampala, Uganda, have arrested a Somali national who was allegedly found with explosives in his car as he was about to enter the Speke Resort Hotel in Munyonyo.
According to police spokesman Fred Enanga, the blast was found by security guards at the Munyonyo Hotel, during a security check-up as he was about to enter the building.
“The equipment was discovered by the security forces after a lengthy search of the vehicle, a Toyota Wish driven by Abdul Karim Mayowu, a 25-year-old Somali resident of Lungujja in the Lubaga section,” Enanga said.
A police spokesman said that when questioned, the Somali national said he was a tenant hired by Muhammad Hassan, 28, another Somali national, to pick him up from the hotel with his mother and siblings. .
“That’s how he drove this suspicious device. We have now arrested the two as well as other close family members, including Asili Yassin, 40, and Maxbal Masal, 20. The device found is capable of operating or detonating explosives.
“Now we have to conduct an operation and go back to the most important thing; the explosives,” Enanga said.
The incident comes as twin bombings in Kampala last week killed seven people and injured others, which the Uganda government has said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group was behind the attack.
Security has been beefed up in Uganda since the rise in suicide bombings, with a total of 106 people arrested in police operations.
