KAMPALA – Uganda has successfully captured the commander of a militia squad, responsible for the murder of two foreign tourists and their guide during a honeymoon in Queen Elizabeth National Park last month.
This operation followed an earlier raid on the feared Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which saw six fighters killed, with the unit commander, identified only as Njovu, as the sole survivor.
The victims of the October attack were a British national, David Barlow, his South African wife Celia, and their Ugandan guide, Eric Ayai.
The Uganda government placed the blame on the ADF, a militia based in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo with affiliations to the Islamic State (IS) group, which later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Uganda’s Deputy Military spokesman, Deo Akiiki, reported that Njovu had sustained injuries during the gunfight.
He stated, “This was a successful joint military intelligence-led operation, and the whole squad that had been sent by the ADF to cause mayhem, kill tourists, burn schools, hospitals, was eliminated.”
Njovu is currently in custody and will face trial.
Akiiki confirmed that the captured commander was found with some of the belongings of the murdered tourists and the guide’s identity card.
Ugandan military goes after IS militia
Major General Dick Olum, responsible for Uganda’s military operations against the ADF in the DRC, revealed that six other members of the squad were killed during the recent operation, which took place on Lake Edward.
This lake straddles the Uganda-DRC border and is west of the park where the tourists were murdered.
Olum noted that the captured fighter was planning “another mission to carry out more terror attacks” while being unaware that the military was monitoring the group’s movements.
The squad comprised seven members, including their commander.
Four were shot and drowned, while two tried to swim across the water but were shot and killed as well.
The ongoing mission is now to hunt for the remaining ADF splinter groups and eliminate them.
After the October attack, President Yoweri Museveni called on the security forces to ensure that the ADF was “wiped out,” leading to several air strikes on the group’s positions in the DRC.
The ADF, a Ugandan rebel coalition, is historically known for its largest faction of Muslims opposed to Museveni.
Established in eastern Congo in 1995, the group has been accused of causing civilian massacres in the conflict-ridden region.
Britain has issued travel advisories, urging its citizens to avoid certain parts of Uganda, including Queen Elizabeth park, for their safety.
Uganda’s tourism industry is a significant foreign exchange earner, contributing nearly 10 percent of the country’s GDP last year, according to government statistics.