'You will pay with your lives,' warns Museveni after Uganda Park attack
Africa
By
Sharon Wanga
| Oct 18, 2023
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to take action on assailants who aided an attack on foreign tourists in the country on Tuesday.
Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels were reported to have shot and killed two foreign tourists and a driver (Ugandan) at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kasese, Uganda on Tuesday evening.
President Museveni has since condemned the act terming the perpetrators as timid terrorists who only targeted their country's friends.
"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. Of course, these terrorists will pay with their own wretched lives," Museveni said in a strongly worded statement.
The Ugandan Head of State has promised to offer support to the relatives of the three victims; a British national, a South African, and a Ugandan driver.
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"Our High Commission in the UK will reach out to their families and provide whatever support is necessary in this tragic situation. More importantly, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF), the Police, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), and Intelligences should ensure these mistakes do not happen again and that ADF is wiped out," he added.
Museveni alluded that the attack might have taken place when the tourists were exiting the park since UWA was guarding the visitors inside the park.
He said that the UPDF has been using one form of tracking to capture the fugitives ADF-who have been rebel coalition since 1995.
The UK government has also warned its citizens against visiting the Queen Elizabeth National Park, following the attack.
"The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park. 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," Britain Foreign Office noted.
This is not the first time tourists have been attacked while visiting the Queen Elizabeth Park.
On April 2, 2019, an American tourist and her guide were kidnapped by suspected terrorists at the park.
The government paid a ransom for their release five days later.