Burundi steps up security
2010-07-13 18:07
Bujumbura - Burundi stepped up security in response to a direct threat from Somalia's al-Shabaab, who carried out deadly attacks against Uganda, Bujumbura's military partner in Mogadishu, the army said on Tuesday.
"We want to reassure the Burundian population. We have taken the necessary measures and adopted strategies that I cannot reveal," army spokesperson Gaspard Baratuza told AFP.
"Shabaab will not find in Burundi a terrain where it can operate," he said.
On Sunday night, three explosions ripped through crowds watching the football World Cup final at two entertainment spots in the Ugandan capital, killing at least 76 and wounding dozens.
The blasts, the worst attacks since the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, were claimed by Somalia's insurgent group al-Shabaab, whose leadership has proclaimed its allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
The group said the attacks were in retaliation for Uganda's leading role in the African Union force (Amisom) which has thwarted their efforts to topple Somalia's western-backed president and take over the whole of Mogadishu.
Warning
The Kampala bombings demonstrated al-Shabaab's ability to strike beyond Somali borders and the Islamist rebels' spokesperson warned Burundi it could be next on the list.
"Burundi ought to learn a lesson from what happened in Kampala because the Shabaab's mujahideen (holy warriors) are unstoppable," al-Shabaab spokesperson Ali Mohamoud Rage told reporters on Monday.
But Baratuza was defiant and insisted that his country would not pull out the three battalions it has deployed to Amisom since December 2007.
"We have taken this threat seriously. But while Shabaab wants to carry out attacks to show its strength, I don't think this is a true measure of strength," Baratuza said.
"There is no reason to withdraw Burundian troops from Somalia... it would not stop Shabaab from (carrying out attacks abroad). We must continue to help the Somali population, which is suffering," he added.
Uganda and Burundi are the only two countries who have agreed to send troops to Somalia as part of the African Union's peacekeeping efforts there.
Al-Shabaab accuse them of being embarked in a Christian crusade against Muslim Somalia and of killing civilians during their operations to secure the weak transitional administration's key institutions.
- SAPA
