KAMPALA (Reuters) – The Ugandan military said on Friday they had arrested a man who was planning a suicide bombing at the funeral of a top police official and had seized materials including a suicide vest and bombs during his arrest.
The man was detained at a hotel in Pader town, about 400 km (60 miles) north of the capital Kampala, said military spokesperson Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso.
The military said in a separate statement that the man had accomplices who were on the run and efforts were underway to arrest them.
The funeral on Friday was for Uganda’s deputy police chief, Paul Lokech, who died of natural causes on Aug. 21. He was a former senior military officer who had previously commanded Uganda’s troops in Somalia.
The military did not comment on the suspect’s motives or who he might be affiliated with but past attacks in the east African country have been claimed by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and al Shabaab.
ADF is a Ugandan Islamist insurgent group based in the jungles of eastern Congo, across the Ugandan border.
Al Shabaab is an Islamist rebel group fighting to topple Somalia’s government. It has previously targeted Uganda in retaliation for its deployment of troops in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Ayenat Mersie and Frances Kerry)
