US embassy issues warning amid Uganda terror threats

The US embassy in Uganda has warned that “there remains a threat of terrorist attacks in Uganda and throughout the region”, as Ugandan police on Monday evacuated a business centre in the capital, Kampala, on suspicions that there was an explosive inside.

The US embassy has also told US citizens to stay alert and avoid large public gatherings, a day after Ugandan police thwarted a suicide bombing attack in Kampala.

Patrick Onyango, the spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police, said that the police arrested a 28-year-old suspected suicide bomber before he entered Rubaga Miracle Centre, a church operated by the prominent Ugandan preacher Pastor Robert Kayanja.

Onyango said that the arrested suspect was helping the police to locate three other suspects believed to be part of a co-ordinated plot targeting churches across Uganda.

According to police reports, the man had concealed an improvised explosive device in a food flask placed in a bag.

Authorities successfully detonated the explosive, which comprised of nails, a cell phone, detonator, booster charger and other components.