Africa

Uganda: Honeymoon couple and guide killed on safari by suspected rebels

British and South African tourists were driving through Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday

Police said two foreign tourists and their Ugandan guide were attacked by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces group. Photograph: Arlette Bashizi/The New York Times

Wed Oct 18 2023 - 07:52

Two foreign tourists who were honeymooning in a national park were killed along with their guide after assailants attacked their vehicle in southwestern Uganda.

Police in Uganda said the trio, two foreign tourists and their Ugandan guide, were driving through the Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday when they were attacked by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group.

The ADF, which began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in the nearby Democratic Republic of Congo since the late 1990s, pledged allegiance to Islamic State, also known as Isis, four years ago.

After operating primarily in Congo for years, it has stepped up attacks inside Uganda in recent months, including a raid in June on a secondary school that killed more than 40 people.

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“It was a cowardly act on the part of the terrorists attacking innocent civilians and tragic for the couple who were newlyweds and visiting Uganda on their honeymoon,” President Yoweri Museveni said in a post on the social media site X.

“Of course, these terrorists will pay with their own wretched lives.”

Uganda Police Force spokesman Fred Enanga wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “We have registered a cowardly terrorist attack on two foreign tourists and a Ugandan in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The three were killed, and their safari vehicle burnt.

“Our joint forces responded immediately upon receiving the information and are aggressively pursuing the suspected ADF rebels. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”

The Uganda Wildlife Authority identified the tourists as being from the UK and South Africa.

Following the incident, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its travel advice for Uganda, warning against “all but essential travel” to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

A statement on its website said: “If you are currently in the Park, you should follow the advice of local security authorities. If you are able to do so safely, you should consider leaving the area.”

The Bridgeway Foundation, a US-based think-tank that studies the ADF, noted the attack occurred about 20km (12 miles) from the Congo border, far deeper into Ugandan territory than previous raids. – PA

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