Uganda on high security alert

2008-10-10 10:03

Kampala - Uganda's security services have been placed on high alert following recent threats stemming from Uganda's involvement in the African peacekeeping force in Somalia, the Daily Monitor reported on Friday.

"Our involvement in peacekeeping operations in Somalia has made some characters there unhappy," Police Chief Kale Kayihura was quoted as saying.

Kayihura said that while no specific target had been identified, the country's national security organisations decided to maintain "permanent vigilance and preparedness" following recent threats.

Police beefed up security around many of the capital's popular venues like shopping centres.

Uganda was the first country to step up and contribute troops to the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Somalia last year.

Ugandan soldiers still form the backbone of the force and have only been reinforced by a Burundian contingent earlier this year.

The Ugandan contingent in Somalia is stationed at Mogadishu airport, on which the hardline Islamist Shebab militia imposed a blockade last month.

It has come under intense criticism recently for responding to insurgent mortar attacks with heavy shelling of densely-populated areas in the Somali capital, killing dozens of civilians.

- AFP