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Terrorism: Uganda in the sights of Daesh?

Uganda Daesh

The Ugandan capital, Kampala, woke up on Tuesday to two massive explosions in the city center. An attack that adds to the long series of bombings in this East African country.

Two powerful explosions were observed in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on the morning of Tuesday, November 16. Witnesses said an explosion occurred near a police station and another on a street near Parliament. A building housing an insurance company caught fire, and the ensuing fire engulfed cars parked outside.

Some MPs were seen evacuating the grounds of the nearby parliamentary building, according to national television station UBC. A video of a witness posted online showed smoke rising from the scene of the explosion near the police station. The police did not immediately comment and no details were given as to the possible victims. Witnesses speak of four dead and thirty wounded.

With this attack, the Ugandan capital is on its seventh bomb attack in three months. If, for years, the opposition between the army and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) organization has claimed many victims, the modus operandi and, above all, the reasons for the attacks are different today.

Indeed, since the arrest of ADF leader Jamil Mukulu in 2015, the rebel group has shifted its activities to the west, to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and has mutated into a terrorist group, constantly targeting civilians. and the armed forces of the countries of the region - DRC, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. There is also an activity of the ADF in northern Mozambique. And on both fronts, the armed group has suffered a series of defeats, making it less influential.

Is Daesh targeting the Ugandan state?

But who is attacking the Ugandan capital today? On the side of the government, one accuses "terrorist groups", without further details. However, an Islamic State (Daesh) statement sent to multiple media outlets on October 24, via an affiliate account on the Telegram messaging service, claimed responsibility for the September and October attacks.

The statement speaks, moreover, of an attack which occurred in early October in a bar in Kampala, "where members and spies of the Ugandan government had gathered". However, neither the Daesh statement, nor the little information that has leaked, nor even the general context, explains the objectives of the terrorist group in Uganda.

In the event, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, engaged in the fight against terrorism in the region, declared that the recent attacks were "acts of terrorism". On the side of the police, in addition to a few details concerning the means deployed by the perpetrators of these acts and the specifics of the improvised explosive devices (IED) used, nothing was provided regarding possible arrests.

In the previous five attacks in Kampala, none had targeted government buildings before today. Has the Ugandan state become the target of Daesh terrorists?

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