Former Muslim Convert Attacked with Acid in Uganda

He is also an ex-Muslim and is receiving death threats from the Religion of destroying Peace. via Compass Direct: Muslim Extremists in Uganda Throw Acid on Bishop

KAMPALA, Uganda, December 28 (CDN) — Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other.

Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Saturday night (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala.

From his hospital bed in Kampala, he told Compass that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new converts to Christianity when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.

“I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Mulinde said, still visibly traumatized two days after the assault.

• A neighbor and church members rushed him to a hospital in the Mengo area of Kampala, and he was then transferred to International Hospital Kampala.
• “I have to continue fighting this pain – it is too much,” Mulinde said. “My entire body is in pain. Most of the night I miss sleep.”
• His face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen.
• “The burn caused by the acid is so severe that there is an urgent need for specialized treatment,” said area Christian Musa Baluku Symutsangira. “I suggest that he be flown outside the country as soon as possible; otherwise Mulinde might lose both of his eyes, coupled with the spread of the burns. The burns seemed to spread and go very deep. He might need some plastic surgery.”

A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye.
“We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said.

Mulinde’s shirt, tie and suit were in tatters after the attack. Mulinde said his father, Id Wasswa, was a local prayer leader or imam. “I was born into a Muslim family, and although I decided to become a Christian, I have been financially assisting many Muslims, as well as my relatives who are Muslims,” he said. “I have been conducting a peaceful evangelism campaign.”

Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda, known in East Africa as Kadhi courts, attacked him. On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death.

The Rest @ Creeping Sharia

Al Qaeda's Africa Express-Three arested

On the trafficking route from Sudan to Somalia, three Low level gun runners have been arrested in Moroto, Uganda. They may know the logistician running the supply chain.

Three men two other Kenyans have been arrested in Moroto for alleged arms trafficking. They are Peter Amadoi from Kitale Kenya, Loito Madelynoroto, Uganda. from Lokiliyama in Kenya and Ben Okello, a resident of Pallisa district.

Read more: http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story., Kenyaphp?s=36280#ixzz1W9HtmSUl

Al Shabaab Planning July 11 Attacks In Uganda and Kenya

Kampala (Alshahid)-Uganda Police yesterday issued a terror alert, saying it had intelligence indicating that Alshabab were planning anniversary bombings in both Uganda and Kenya to coincide with July 11.

The anniversary bombings, Police said, would either be carried out before, or immediately after July 11.

“We have credible information of their plans and that they are targeting hotels and other public places,” Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said yesterday.

“We are, therefore, urging the public to be vigilant. The information we have indicates that they want to have twin bombings in Kenya and Uganda,” she said.

On July 11, 2010, 79 people were killed in twin bomb attacks as they watched the World Cup finals between the Netherlands and Spain.

Alshabab militants in Somalia claimed responsibility for the attack.

Terror alert in Uganda comes as their Kenyan counterparts have beefed up security of airports following a leaked US advisory to foreign counterparts on Al-Qaeda attacks.

The Rest @ The Alshahid Network

Shabaab Threat Continues in Uganda

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA, May 27 (Reuters) - Uganda police warned soccer fans on Friday that Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents could attack them while they watch Saturday's Champions League final.

Abbas Byakagaba, the director of the police anti terrorism unit, told a news conference that the al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents could also strike on June 3, the Matyrs' Day public holiday and that they had boosted security in the country.

Al Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency against Somalia's Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the bombings in Kampala while fans watched last year's World Cup final on television, killing 79.

The Somali insurgents have in the past issued warnings of possible strikes the east African country to try to force it to withdraw its peacekeeping troops deployed in Somalia, as part of an African Union mission (AMISOM).

"We have several events coming up: we have European Champions League finals, there's the Martyrs Day and the information we have is that al Shabaab is targeting these events," Byakagaba said, referring to the match at London's Wembley stadium between Manchester United and Barcelona.

Byakagaba said they had intelligence indicating that an unspecified number of al Shaabaab operatives had entered the country and were planning to launch attacks on crowded areas and big events, adding: "We have heightened our vigilance."

Earlier this week Uganda's opposition dismissed as scaremongering a police warning that al Shabaab was planning to assassinate their leaders and said it was a ploy to scare them off protests against food and fuel riots.

Al Shabaab has criticised Ugandans for re-electing President Yoweri Museveni, who they blame for invading their country.

AMISOM -- which also comprises soldiers from Burundi -- says its forces now control more than 60 percent of Mogadishu. Horn of Africa experts say they are all that prevent the insurgents from toppling an administration plagued by rifts and corruption. (by Elias Biryabarema, )Editing by George Obulutsa)

The Rest @ Alert Net (Reuters)

Al-Shabaab Planned to Bomb East AFrica Clubs On New Year's Day

Kenya: Al-Shabaab 'Had Planned to Bomb Popular Clubs On New Year's Day'
20 March 2011

Share:Nairobi — On New Year's Eve, as Kenyans partied to usher in 2011, security agencies were having a nightmare. There was credible intelligence that terrorists were likely to strike at some party joints on the stroke of midnight.

The authorities had intercepted this communication, but they did not have the finer details. Two hours to midnight, a contact in the terror network called, saying an al-Shabaab strike was imminent.

The contact did not elaborate, but said that this was the message from one of the Mombasa-based overlords. A source in the police circles said they had learnt of the plot by midday on December 31.

Intelligence gathered by the police, the anti-terror squad and the CID showed that the al-Qaeda-backed Somali militant group had planned simultaneous attacks in:

• Uganda's Kampala,
• Kenya's Malindi and Mombasa,
• Burundi's Bujumbura

The targets in Kenya were said to be a popular casino in Malindi and two nightclubs in Mombasa. Without raising the alarm, security agencies maintained a tight vigil on these places.

Other prominent clubs and hotels in Nairobi and at the Coast were also put under increased surveillance. Somehow, Kenya survived.

According to an insider familiar with the recent terrorist activities in the Horn of Africa, the strategy used by the security agents was to make the militants aware that their plan had leaked.
They do this by identifying a fringe member of the group and telling him to pass the message to the leaders.

"That way, they panic and they can quickly change plans the way they did by bombing Kampala Coach in Nairobi (instead of a target in Kampala), after the Uganda authorities issued an alert and stepped up their vigilance," said the source who cannot be named.

Or they simply shelve the plan, the way they did with strikes planned at the height of the controversy surrounding the fiery Jamaican cleric, Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal."

Back to the New Year's Eve al-Shabaab plot. Uganda too, had put in place elaborate measures since the Kampala Coach attack on December 20.

The country has been on al-Shabaab's revenge list following its move to send troops to beef up the African Union peace-keeping mission in war-torn Somalia.
Relevant Links

It was attacked on July 11, when an Islamist militant exploded bombs in two Kampala venues as soccer fans watched the finals of the World Cup being played in South Africa, killing 80 people and injuring scores of others.

Revenge list

• On December 29, three people suspected of being members of al-Shabaab were arrested as they attempted to enter Uganda from Kenya.
• But Burundi, also on al- Shabaab's revenge list because of the AU troops in Somalia, was unlucky.
• On New Year's Day, a grenade exploded in Bujumbura, killing three people and wounding three others.
• Army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza was quoted saying that another grenade went off at Buyenzi in the outskirts of Bujumbura. One person died and five were seriously injured.

For now, the threat of the al-Shabaab militants striking remains real within the region based on the porous border between Kenya and Somalia and the influx of refuge

Rest @ All Africa

Styron Trading had an aircraft in Berbera Somalia

Styron Trading UAE, had a S9 DBQ aircraft located at Berbera Airfield in Novermber and/or December 2008. It is likely the enginer was replaced by one stolen from an aircraft in Uganda...

This bears further investigation....

According to this Uganda Court document, 2008 in a rulling by V.F. Musoke Kibuuka,
Judge, 12.9.08. an aircraft beloning to Stream Aviation was grounded in Uganda by the civil aviation authority for an extended period of time.

Somehow, they got wind that the aircraft's engine was stolen, and was about to be installed into a S9-DBQ plane owned located at the Berbera airfiled in Somalia.

The plane was alegedly owned by Styron Trading, UAE (Registered in the Democratic Republic of Sau Tome). It is likely the plane was at Berbera in Novermber and/or December 2008.

Further, TBDA suggests that Volia Subnet 93.73.72.128 out of Kiev, Kyyivs'ka Oblast', Ukraine, was looking for the the Styron Trading plane by tail number "an-12 5342802 somalia", specifically looking for its connection to Somalia on 19th January 2011, 12:10


-Shimron

Here is a summary of the complaint
***********************************
In brief, the background, as set out in the averments accepted by court, appears to be that the applicant company, STREAM AVIATION LTD, is a company duly incorporated in France. It was carrying on civil aviation business in Uganda.

• It had an office at Entebbe Airport and had a running contract for Cargo transportation for the UPDF.
• In Uganda the applicant operates one Antinov aircraft, AN.12BK, registration, 4L-ELE, serial number 5342802.
• The aircraft is leased by the applicant from its owner, VARTY PACIFIC INC., a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, but with its registered office in Shargah, United Arab Emirates.
• The Lease Agreement is annexed to the affidavit in rejoinder.

The allegation in the statement of facts was that on 5th July, 08, the aviation Police of Entebbe Airport grounded the applicant’s aircraft which was undergoing routine repairs.

• Since that time, the applicant has not been allowed access to it or completing the routine repairs or using the aircraft.
• That decision of the respondent, according to the applicant, has led to it suffering loss of business earnings amounting to US$700,000, by the time of filing the application, but which has since continued to escalate.
• The affidavit in reply by Mr. Matsiko Ssenyonga does not deny the allegation that the applicant’s plane was grounded by the respondent on 5th July 08.
• it states, instead, that on 1st August, 08, the respondent received a complaint from one Anatoliy Lovin, director of Styron Trading Incorporation in the United Arab Emirates.

The complaint was to the effect that the applicant’s aircraft was suspected of being fitted or about to be fitted with stolen aviation engines belonging to an airplane of S9-DBQ belonging to Styron Trading Incorporation registered in the Democratic Republic of Sau Tome but which was, at the time at the airfield of Berbera in Somalia.

Mr. Matsiko avers that the Aviation Security in liaison with the military agreed to ground the aircraft until the complaint was resolved.

The Managing Director of the respondent had directed Mr. Matsiko to deal with the matter as he seemed appropriate. Mr. Matsiko also averred that the applicant did not own the aircraft as it had no lease agreement.

All Shabaab Bombs Bus Bound for Kampala Uganda

A bomb attack on a Kampala-bound bus in Nairobi by the al-Shabaab militants on the night of December 20, claimed three lives and injured 26 as the bus was preparing to leave for Kampala. It could have been worse if the attacker had found his way into the bus undetected.

This comes as the al-Shabaab leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Abu Zubayr, threatened further attacks on Uganda and Burundi for contributing troops to the African Union mission. Such incidents should remind us that these militants are still around and are going nowhere until they achieve their mission.

On the question of how terrorist attacks can be foiled, it is important to investigate just why someone might be inclined to become a suicide bomber. In my understanding, terrorists are not born, they are created. Unprovoked, most human beings will continue to live their own lives, attempting to improve their environment and acquire a greater quality of life. But, once provoked, any person has the potential to revert to violent means to ward off a perceived or real threat.

Terrorists could make a bomb in an item as small as a soda can. They could sneak weapons in body cavities. They could set off a bomb to go off in a line at a sporting event, or in the security line at an airport. Risk is just something that we have to deal with. Fortunately, like many risks, the risk from terrorism is very small. Thinking outside the box can help.


The target of a suicide bomber is usually a highly populated space which is likely to be a well-known public area, usually at peak times like the festive season we are in. This is the most damaging method in terms of destruction of life, property and evidence. A suicide bomber will typically place himself and his deadly payload wherever he thinks he will kill the most people.



A single suicide bomber can carry enough explosive on his body to kill or gravely wound everyone within a 50-foot radius in an open area. A bomber driving a truck or car laden with explosives could destroy an entire building.



The destruction can

Al Qaeda's Operating Instructions to Al Shabaab

"Al Qaeda has accepted Shabaab into the fold and, and any additional statements would only serve to draw international scrutiny," the intelligence official said.

"Al Qaeda is applying lessons learned from Iraq, that an overexposure of the links between al Qaeda central leadership and its affiliates can cause some unwanted attention."

Shabaab's double suicide attack in Uganda on July 11 was well received by al Qaeda's top leadership, who want Shabaab to continue to hitting US interests in Africa.

"Al Qaeda is pleased with the double suicide attack in Uganda, but suggested Shabaab reserve future strikes at US interests in the region," the official said.

The July 11 double suicide attack in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, killed 74 civilians as they watched the World Cup's final soccer match. The mastermind of the Kampala attacks, Isah Ahmed Luyima, said he executed the bombings with the intent of maximizing US deaths.

"I targeted places where many Americans go," Luyima said in a press conference hosted by Ugandan police on Aug. 12. "I was made to believe that Americans were responsible for the suffering of Muslims all over the world."

The Shabaab cell that carried out the Uganda attack called itself the Saleh Ali Nabhan Brigade. Saleh Ali Slaeh Nabhan was a top al Qaeda and Shabaab leader who has been indicted by the US for his involvement in the 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Nabhan was indicted with several top al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. Nabhan served as Shabaab's top military commander before US special operations forces killed him in a raid in southern Somalia in September 2009.

The Rest from The Long War Journal

Al-Shabab leader threatens more Uganda attacks By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Associated Press Writer

The leader of the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group that claimed responsibility for twin bombings in Uganda during the World Cup final threatened further attacks in a new audio message released Thursday. The leader of al-Shabab _ Sheik Muktar Abu Zubayr _ also thanked the militants who carried out Sunday's twin bombings in Uganda that killed 76 people. It was the first time al-Shabab had struck outside Somalia's borders. In the audio message played on Mogadishu radio stations, Abu Zubayr told Uganda's president that more attacks would be carried out. "I say to the Ugandan president what has happened in Kampala was only the beginning. We will keep revenging what your soldiers remorselessly did to our people. Your tanks destroyed the remains of our buildings in Mogadishu and we will also revenge that," Abu Zubayr said. The bombings on Sunday ripped through a restaurant and rugby club as crowds watched the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands on television. Al-Shabab said the bombings were revenge for Uganda's deployment of peacekeepers in Mogadishu with the African Union force, known as AMISOM. Al-Shabab battles African Union and Somali forces in the streets of Mogadishu daily, in an effort to topple Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed administration. Those attacks often miss their military targets and the crossfire kills scores of civilians, "What is called AMISOM has committed a nasty massacre in Mogadishu, worse than the ones committed before by the Ethiopians and Americans: constant shelling at poor civilian populations, tanks leveling what remained of Mogadishu buildings and machine-guns shot at public vehicles. All those were the habits of AMISOM," Abu Zubayr said. Abu Zubayr also thanked the militant team that carried out the attacks. He said they were members of the Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan contingent, named after the militant killed in a U.S. commando raid in rural southern Somalia last September. Nabhan was wanted for the 2002 car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner. Meanwhile, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said at a news conference that his country is committed to sending 2,000 more troops to Somalia if the East African regional bloc known as IGAD agrees. He also called for African Union members to send up to 20,000 troops to Somalia "as soon as possible." There are currently more than 5,000 AU troops in Mogadishu from Uganda and Burundi. After the twin bombings in Kampala, al-Shabab also threatened to attack Burundi. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley on Thursday praised Uganda and Burundi's commitment to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia. "We commend the critical role that Uganda and Burundi continue to play to bring regional security to the unstable areas in east and central Africa, particularly through their leadership of the A.U. mission in Somalia," he said. Crowley added that more than 60 FBI agents arrived Wednesday in Uganda to help investigate Sunday's bombing. "They are fully engaged in the investigation in support of Uganda authorities, will be there for several days, as we continue to determine who is responsible and what happened in that tragedy on Sunday," he said. Uganda hosts an African Union summit later this month where Somalia force levels will be discussed. Museveni told Ugandans not to blame the Somali community in Kampala for Sunday's attacks amid reports of rising tensions between Ugandans and Somalis. "Not all the Somali people are dangerous," the Ugandan president said. "There could be some elements who are dangerous but the majority are good." Museveni vowed to find the terrorists who carried out the attacks and "eliminate them." Over the last two years, foreign fighters numbering in the low hundreds with experience in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq have joined al-Shabab, according to international officials, raising the group's level of militant expertise. Somali-Americans have been recruited and taken part in suicide bombings. The U.S. branded al-Shabab a terrorist organization in 2008, more than a year after Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia and touched off an Islamist and nationalist insurgency that still rages.

The Rest @ the AP

Uganda Send More Troops to Somalia

Mar 29, 2009 - 9:10:08 AM
By JULIUS BARIGABA

In the wake of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) withdrawal from a three-month operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kampala has quietly deployed another 1,000 soldiers in conflict-ravaged Somalia, The EastAfrican has learnt.

Senior army officers in Kampala confirmed last week that at least 1,000 troops have been on Somali territory for over a week now, despite growing concerns that the presence in Somalia of Uganda’s army poses a serious terrorist danger to the country.

“We’ve completed deployment of another battalion. We now have two battalions standing in Somalia,” said General Aronda Nyakairima, UPDF Chief of Defence Forces.

Army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye added that this is an “augmentation force” deployed at the request of the African Union.

In the same sprit, Burundi, the other country that has an AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia, will also send more troops to reinforce its contingent.

With 1,600 UPDF soldiers already in place, the new force brings to 2,600 the number of Ugandan troops in the Horn of Africa country.

But apart from being done swiftly — and without parliamentary approval — this recent deployment is surrounded by a number of other curious developments, top of which is the recent visit of new Somali President Sheikh Ahmed Sharif to Kampala, and more critically, the call ostensibly issued by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden to overthrow Sharif.

The death threat came just days after the Somali leader’s visit to Kampala, long suspected to be a target of Islamist terrorists because it is seen as an agent of Anglo-American interests in the Horn of Africa — Uganda was after all the first country to send troops to Somalia in 2007. The threats to Mr Sharif, and his allies should be a cause for alarm, but Gen Nyakairima says the army is unfazed.

“We have been hearing about bin Laden’s threats for a long time. He was living with (LRA leader) Joseph Kony in 1995 and 1996 in the Sudan. He will not stop us, because we have been invited by the international community and Africa union (AU).”

During Mr Sharif’s visit, it emerged that Uganda had been secretly training nearly 600 Somali nationals on Ugandan territory, under a programme jointly funded by the AU and Kampala. The trainees have passed out and are now deployed alongside the Ugandan troops in Somalia, sources said.
Apparently, bin Laden accuses Mr Sharif of taking inducements from the Americans in Nairobi.

Analysts say the Kampala visit was to persuade Mr Sharif to align himself with the Western agenda. A product of the Islamic courts, Mr Sharif is seen as a different kettle of fish from his “progressive” predecessor Abdullahi Yusuf, who was seen as more pro-West

Mr Yusuf was removed after he sacked his Prime Minister early this year, setting the stage for his own removal and the re-emergence of Mr Sharif, who as leader of the Islamic Courts Union that was responsible for the six-months administration that successfully restored calm to Mogadishu in 2007 before being thrown out by US-backed Ethiopian forces.

This is not the first time Uganda is training Somali troops, having earlier concluded training of another special unit of 100. Such actions are said to have annoyed radical Islamist al-Shabaab militia elements in Somalia, hence the concerns over terror attacks against Uganda.

For instance, early this month, a Russian-made private plane, an Ilyushin-76, plunged into Lake Victoria 10 kilometres south of Entebbe Airport, from where it had just taken off, killing all 11 people on board.

The plane was supposed to deliver “water purifiers” to the peacekeepers in Mogadishu, but its crash has since elicited loaded comments from government officials who said they “cannot rule out terrorism.”

Days after the crash, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS quoted the plane’s owner as saying it had been hit by a rocket from a grenade launcher or a Stinger missile.

On board the plane were South African nationals, Ugandans, a Russian and a senior Burundi army officer who was returning to peacekeeping duties in Mogadishu. Only Burundi and Uganda have sent peacekeeping forces to Somalia.

But the army spokesman said the UPDF presence in Somalia cannot be linked with the plane crash until the black box and flight data are retrieved from the fuselage, which is still embedded in the mud of the lakebed.

“Do not link the two. The crash is an accident until the black box is found,” said Major Kulaigye. “This is not the first time terrorists have threatened this region; as a peacekeeping force, we are on the lookout.”

But a Muslim scholar Imam Kasozi said that by deploying more troops, Uganda was signalling that “we are now preparing for war” against al-Shabaab.

“Let’s not forget, we went into Somalia on behalf of the US, which two years ago paid Uganda $10 million to enable the troops to travel to Mogadishu. But two years later, is there any peace to keep in Mogadishu? No. It means they are now preparing for war.”

The UPDF says Uganda’s peacekeeping mission to Somalia has lost only seven soldiers since the first day of deployment in 2007.

A member of the African Union and the Inter Governmental Authority on Development, Uganda was the only country to send troops — even though more than six countries had committed to do so — raising questions over its motivation for rushing in where other AU member states feared to tread.
The answer came during President Sharif’s visit when Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said, “You can’t see your neighbour in a problem and you remain silent.”

Mid this month, UPDF pulled out of Congo, where the army had been carrying out aerial and ground assaults since December 14, 2008 in pursuit of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels

This appears reading to have freed up the extra UPDF troops for the AU mission. With its continuing focus on Somalia, Kampala is trying to consolidate its image as the region’s most forthright peacekeeper against all odds.

Via VOA
Original Source: The East African (Kenya)

Hussain Bhayat Detained for "Charity Work" in Uganda

JOHANNESBURG - The arrests of two South Africans in Uganda on suspicion of terrorism has left the local Islamic community angered, frustrated and in fear for their safety.
The wife of one of the two South Africans who were arrested told The Citizen yesterday that she hoped her husband would return home safely.

Speaking to The Citizen, the angry and concerned woman, who did not want her name printed in the media, said that her husband, Haroon Saley, together with the Islamic cleric Mufti Hussain Bhayat, left for Kenya last week on Tuesday before heading to Uganda where they had been doing relief work.

Saley, aged 56, is a community leader from Azaadville near Krugersdorp on the West Rand.
He is part of an organisation known as the Crescent of Hope which has been involved in humanitarian work since 1992.

The organisation also seeks to help people from impoverished communities by donating clothes food and carrying out skills training.

News of the arrests reached South Africa when an Ugandan source reportedly told Radio Islam that the two men had been detained on Sunday at Entebbe International Airport in Kampala, Uganda.

A government source also confirmed this, saying the duo were stopped by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force of Uganda.

The duo are reportedly being held by the Chieftaincy of military intelligence in Uganda.

The Rest @ The Citizen in South Africa

(thanks for the Heads Up, JihadWatch )

Group in Isiolo being armed by al Shabaab for Upcoming Kenya Terror?

US, EA gunrunners violating UN’s Somalia arms ban

Some military officers assigned to the African Union’s peacekeeping force in the country are accused of selling weapons seized from Shabaab insurgents. KEVIN J KELLEY reports
The United States government as well as individual Ugandans and Kenyans are violating the United Nations ban on arms trading with Somalia, a UN monitoring group charges.

Shockingly, the violations involve officers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces peacekeeping contingent inside Somalia who are apparently selling arms back to the very same groups that are fighting them in the continuing insurgency in that war-torn country.

Worse still, the UPDF top brass, despite having been informed of the allegations, appears to have done nothing about them. Nor does the African Union, under whose aegis the Ugandan troops have been deployed, appear bothered to investigate the UN group’s charges.

Also worrying is the report that arms have been smuggled into Kenya to supply an unnamed “militia group.”

US violations are said to include a missile attack on a target inside Somalia along with “intensive and comprehensive military training” conducted inside Ethiopia for officers from the breakaway Somalia region known as Somaliland.

Ugandan military officers assigned to the African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia are accused of selling weapons seized from Shabaab insurgents. Many of these arms make their way back into the hands of the Shabaab, the group said in a report released a week ago.
Kenyans have been smuggling weapons from Somalia for purchase by a Kenyan militia group and other clients, the UN monitors indicate.

The panel further cites Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen as major violators of the embargo imposed by the UN Security Council in 1992.

The monitors say they regard the presence of Ethiopian troops inside Somalia as a violation of the arms embargo. Ethiopia invaded Somalia late in 2006 to beat back the forces of the Union of Islamic Courts that were threatening the survival of the Transitional Federal Government.

The TFG itself, as well as Shabaab insurgents and various warlords, also regularly engage in proscribed arms deals, the UN monitors say.

“According to arms traders,” the report states, “the biggest suppliers of ammunition to the markets are Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government commanders. The Mogadishu arms markets are doing a booming business and, according to precise information received by the Monitoring Group, their clients include parties in Kenya.”

• The report details arms deals involving Kenyans that took place in February and March.
• In the first, weapons were allegedly ordered from Somalia by Kenyan-Somali cattle traders on behalf of clients that the report does not name.
• The arms were transferred in two separate shipments hidden in a truck carrying foodstuffs and taken across the Kenya-Somalia border en route to Isiolo, the report says.
• Isiolo was also the final destination of AK-47s and other weapons from Somalia that entered Kenya in March, according to the UN report.
• The buyer this time was “a militia group in Kenya” that the monitors do not identify.
  

The Kenyan government contributed $2 million to the Transitional Federal Government, according to the UN report. This money could have been wrongfully used, the monitors suggest, noting that “no safeguards exist against the diversion of such funds towards the financing of arms-embargo violations.”

Ugandan officers stationed in Somalia have been selling stockpiles of weapons and ammunition from seized Shabaab arms caches, the report states. Some of the lighter arms, such as AK-47 assault rifles, make their way back to Shabaab fighters, who may use them in attacks on the Ugandan troops.

Heavy weapons sold by the Ugandans, such as Zu-23 anti-aircraft guns, end up in the hands of authorities in Somaliland and the separatist region of Puntland, the report adds.

Members of the UN panel presented these findings to Ugandan government officials last December. Gen Aronda Nyakairima, chief of defence of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, promised to conduct an immediate investigation and to communicate its results to the UN prior to January 1. But as of early April, when the monitors completed their newly released report, the Ugandan government had not responded to several UN follow-up requests for the promised information.

The African Union also has not replied to a November 14, 2007, UN letter requesting a meeting to discuss the monitoring group’s charges concerning the Ugandan members of the Somalia peacekeeping force.

“Several Somaliland army officers have undergone combat training in Ethiopia, delivered by instructors from the Ethiopian National Defence Force and the United States Army,” it adds.

It notes that the 1992 UN arms embargo resolution was extended in 2002 to include “training related to military activities.”

These sessions involving training for special operations and counter-terrorism are said to last six months and to be conducted at three military bases around Addis Ababa.

Somaliland officers receive “a significant financial incentive and new uniforms to participate in the training, which is very intensive,” the report says. “Upon their return to Somaliland, trained officers are generally put in command of a brigade, while continuing to receive a salary from the Ethiopian military.

The training is part of wider assistance given to the Somaliland army, which allegedly includes arms and field material.”

The UN monitors also note that a US government spokesman confirmed an American missile strike on March 2 on targets in the village of Dobley in southeastern Somalia.

“The Monitoring Group considers all weapons delivered to Somalia a violation of the embargo, irrespective of the manner in which they were delivered,” the report states.

It notes that a letter requesting additional information was sent to the US government on March 12. No reply had been received by the time the report was submitted to the Security Council in April.

A UK Royal Air Force military plane landed at Berbera in Somaliland on November 26, 2007, carrying undisclosed cargo, the report adds. The British government said in a December 28 response to a UN query that the flight was part of “a routine liaison” that UK diplomatic staff in Addis Ababa maintain with Somaliland authorities. Further flights of that kind are expected, the British said in their reply to the UN monitoring group.

The Rest @ The Nation Media

Kiswahili Speaking Soldiers Arriving in Kenya Apear to be Ugandan

13 January 2008
Posted to the web 12 January 2008

Armed Ugandan soldiers are allegedly crossing into Kenya.
Busia residents told The Sunday Standard that some Ugandan troops have been sighted in town and in Port Victoria along River Suo.

"They are scattered all over along the borders with some patrolling along Lake Victoria," said a secondary school teacher in Budalang'i District.

According to Nambale MP-elect, Mr Chris Okemo, some of the soldiers have reportedly crossed "no-man's-land" borderline to Busia town on the Kenyan side.

"We have received reports that a number of strangers, whose mission is unknown, have been spotted in groups. We are still investigating the claims," he said.

Bondo MP-elect Dr Oburu Oginga also claimed that people in Ugandan military gear docked at Mageta Island last evening in batches.

"The first batch of 12 soldiers who spoke strange Kiswahili arrived at Mageta Island past 5pm on Friday and asked for directions to Usenge and Uhanya beach," Oburu said.

Oburu said he informed police in Bondo after more soldiers allegedly landed at Mageta two hours later.

"We are concerned with these strange military personnel in the area. The residents are worried," Oburu said.

However, Nyanza PPO Ms Grace Kaindi denied the claims.
"That is nonsense. There is no way foreign troops can be sneaked into the country since we are not at war with anybody," she said.

"We have laws that can help us deal with any security threat in the province. Residents should ignore rumours about Uganda soldiers taking positions on Kenya borders along Lake Victoria," she said police investigation showed no foreign troops.

Similar strange military arrivals were reported in Bungoma where they allegedly boarded six buses.

Suspicion has been high in Uganda over President Yoweri Museveni's possible role in the Kenyan presidential poll fiasco.

Museveni was the only Head of State in the region to congratulate Kibaki for being re-elected.

Ugandan authorities have denied that its soldiers had crossed into Kenya.
Museveni's Media advisor, Mr John Nagenda, on Sunday denied the claims.
Uganda's Army spokesman, Captain Paddy Ankunda, also refuted the claims.

The Rest @ AllAfrica

Uganda and DR Congo Troubles Continue

11 September, 2007

Uganda has denied massing troops on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, as revealed over the past days by Congolese military sources to Radio Okapi of the United Nations Mission in DR-Congo (MONUC).

“It is completely not true that we have deployed in the said areas at a time where the two countries are engaged in talks. We are simply monitoring our borders because some indisciplined Congolese soldiers have attacked the Ugandan territory in the last month”,

Uganda’s military spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye told Reuters. At a summit on Saturday in Arusha, in northern Tanzania, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila agreed to end their border territory dispute and crate a common front against attempts to destabilise east DR-Congo, where UN peacekeepers are attempting to preserve a shaky cease-fire between rebels and regular forces.

Based on the Arusha accord, all armed movements of Ugandan origin will leave Congolese territory within 90 days and Uganda will have to withdraw its troops still present in the Mahagi territory, a few dozen kilometres from the border.

According to Radio Okapi, the Ugandan troops occupied some areas along the border, such as Kolokoto, a fishing village 54km from Mahagi, straight after Congolese forces left the area. The MONUC military spokesman, Major Gabriel de Brosses, told MISNA from Kinshasa that he had no elements to confirm the troop movements.

Incidents multiplied in the past months between the Ugandan and Congolese armed forces in the Lake Albert area, according to analysts, over the strong progress achieved in the oil sector by companies operating in Ugandan territory, accused by Congolese authorities of continuous border trespassing.

The Rest @ MISNA

Somalia Update

July 22
Somalia: Chairperson Optimistic About Reconciliation Conference
Somalia's national reconciliation committee chairman, Ali Mahdi Mohammed, told journalists on Saturday that he was pretty much optimistic that the clan-based reconciliation congress going in the Somali capital, Mogadishu would end in success.

Shabelle
Somalia: Islamist Leader Blames Govt. of Daily Bombings
The chairman of the defeated Union of Islamic Courts, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who is Asmara, Eritrea, accused the Somali transitional government of being responsible for the daily bombings in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Shabelle
Somalia: Ethiopian Troops to Secure Central Part of the Country
Local administrators in Hiran province, central Somalia, and number of Ethiopian officers have had a meeting over the escalating insecurity in the region on Saturday.

Shabelle
July 21
Somalia: New Fighting Forces 10,000 to Flee
The United Nations refugee agency today reported that renewed violence has forced 10,000 people to flee Mogadishu over the last week, reversing a trend where those displaced from the conflict-torn Somali capital had been returning.

UN News
Somalia: Peace Talks to Focus On Resolving Clan Conflicts
Somalia's national reconciliation congress which resumed on Saturday concluded peacefully with hundreds of the country's clan elders gathered at the venue of the conference in north of the capital, Mogadishu.

Shabelle
Somalia: Officials to Reopen Mogadishu's Bakara Market
The business committee of Mogadishu's Bakara market and officials from Somalia's security department met in the capital on Saturday after the government troops have closed down the market for more than two weeks.

Shabelle
Somalia: Explosions Kill 2 in Mogadishu
At least two civilians have been killed and three others have been wounded after three grenade explosions targeting government soldiers based in Mogadishu's Bakara market occurred minutes of one another on Saturday.

Shabelle
Somalia: Ethiopian Troops Kill One in the Capital
One person was killed and number of other people has been wounded after Ethiopian troops opened fire at a crowd of Somalis in Yaqshid neighborhood, north of the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday.

Shabelle
Somalia: Government Official Killed Overnight
Unknown gunmen killed the chairman of Hodan district in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, last night. The victim was in his drugstore doing his private business when unknown gunmen shot him dead.

Shabelle
Somalia: Mogadishu Under Bomb Explosions
At least three bomb blasts occurred inside and outside of Mogadishu's Bakara market where the Somali government soldiers are based. The sounds of gunshots could be heard after the blasts that rocked the neighborhoods near the market.

Shabelle
Africa: UN Body Urges End to Use of Child Soldiers in Uganda And Somalia
The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict today adopted recommendations regarding children in armed conflict in Uganda and Somalia, as well as examining recent reports by the Secretary-General on the situation in Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

UN News
Somalia: Malaria Kills Three in South
Three children died from malaria related diseases in Afgoi district, west of the capital, Mogadishu, in the past 24 hours. Our reporter, Hassan Mayow, said the children died in Awdhegle settlement where there is no formal clinic.

Shabelle
July 20
Uganda: The Good And Bad Side to Extended Somalia Mission [editorial]
The extension of the Ugandan peacekeeping mission in Somalia is both a good and bad thing. It is good to the extent that we shall be continuing in the noble duty of helping that scarred country gradually find its way.

Monitor
Somalia: Bishop Appeals to Insurgents to Give Peace Meeting a Chance
Somali insurgents attempting to disrupt a national peace conference do not have the interest of their people at heart, a Catholic bishop said.

CISA
Somalia: Somaliland Authorities Free Newspaper Reporter After Seven Days [press release]
Reporters Without Borders has hailed the 19 July 2007 release of Abdirahman Mohammed Habane of "Jamhuuriya", a daily based in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway state of Somaliland. He had been held since 12 July because of a controversial article about the swearing-in of a traditional leader.

This and more is from AllAfrica.com , who has a daily Somalia update

South Sudan Warriors Raiding Northern Uganda, Sell Weapons

Warriors from South Sudan have raided Uganda and are selling off some of their superior weapons to the residents, an area Member of Parliament has revealed. Rev. Simon Lakodo said the Topotho, who have moved from south eastern Sudan escaping from severe drought and a recent clash with Kenya's Turkana are selling RPGs, G2, G3 and hand grenades to residents in the north eastern Uganda.

The cattle raiders arrived last week and are presently camped at Kidepo National Park but are moving south of the country, the legislator told his colleagues on the Defence and Internal Affairs parliamentary committee on Thursday 22.

Read the Rest from Sudan.net