Ugandan authorities on Wednesday tracked down the perpetrators of the previous day’s murder of two tourists, a honeymoon couple and their guide in the famous Queen Elizabeth Park, which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
According to the National Parks Agency (UWA), the tourists were British and South African nationals and their guide was a Ugandan.
“This is a cowardly act by terrorists targeting innocent civilians and tragic for the newly married couple visiting Uganda for their honeymoon,” President Yoweri Museveni wrote in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The attack was carried out around 6 p.m. local time in the northern part of the park “by a small group of terrorists” who will “pay with their miserable lives,” added the head of state, who has been in power in this country since 1986. East Africa.
Army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement that a force comprising the army, police and UWA “has deployed all resources (…) to pursue these terrorists and will ensure that they are brought to book for their heinous acts.”
. @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 burned. Our joint forces responded immediately upon receiving the information and are taking aggressive action… pic.twitter.com/fuoL1bEsvs
— Uganda Police (@PoliceUg) October 17, 2023
“Three Christian Tourists”
In a statement released on Wednesday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and said the attackers had killed “three Christian tourists (…) including a British man” with machine guns.
Ugandan police had previously attributed the incident to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. She is accused of massacring thousands of civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo and carrying out jihadist attacks on Ugandan soil in recent years.
The United Kingdom stressed that “the attackers are still on the run” and advised its nationals against “any travel to this park” in the southwest of the country, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, unless absolutely necessary.
“If you can do so safely, you should consider leaving the area,” the UK government added.
France also urged its nationals to be “cautious” and “follow the instructions of local authorities” in a message on X.
A South African official said consular authorities were in contact with the family of the South African citizen killed in the attack.
“We would also like to join the international community in condemning this terrorist attack. Terrorism, in any form, has no place in our society,” South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela told AFP.
The attack came two days after the Ugandan president announced that security forces had foiled bombings planned by members of the ADF on Sunday against churches about fifty kilometers from the capital, Kampala.
Mr Museveni then claimed that the Ugandan army had carried out airstrikes against ADF positions in the Democratic Republic of Congo the day before and warned that the group could “attempt to commit indiscriminate terrorist attacks” following those attacks in Uganda.
Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF from its Congolese strongholds, but have so far failed to end the group’s attacks.
In June, 42 people, including 37 students, were killed in an attack attributed to them at a high school in western Uganda.
“isolated case”
The ADF, originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, made its presence felt in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s. She pledged allegiance in 2019 to ISIS, which claims some of her actions as its own and portrays it as its “Central African Province” (Iscap in English).
Felix Kulayigye assured “the tourism industry that this is an isolated incident” and that “Uganda is safe.”
In 2019, an American tourist and his guide were kidnapped by four gunmen while walking in Queen Elizabeth Park. The two men were found unharmed after a ransom was paid.
UWA said the park would remain open on Tuesday.
Queen Elizabeth Park, one of the most famous in Uganda, is known for its safaris where you can see lions climbing trees, a rarity.
According to official figures, tourism, a key sector of Uganda’s economy, contributed almost 10% of GDP in 2022.