Uganda announced on Thursday that it has apprehended the leader of a militia group held responsible for the killings of two foreign tourists on their honeymoon and their local guide in a national park last month.
He emerged as the sole survivor of a nighttime military operation conducted on Tuesday against a faction of the notorious Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). During the operation, the army reported that six other fighters were killed.
On October 17, a British national and a South African were tragically killed, along with their guide, in an attack while they were on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Uganda attributed the responsibility for the incident to the ADF, an armed militia operating from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which has affiliations with the Islamic State (IS) group.
The Islamic State (IS) group subsequently claimed accountability for the assault, stating that it had targeted and killed “three Christian tourists.”
Deo Akiiki, Uganda’s deputy military spokesman, informed AFP that the unit commander, known only as Njovu, sustained injuries to his back during an exchange of gunfire on Tuesday.
“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,” Akiiki said.
“The only survivor is the commander whom we captured,” he said, adding that he would now face trial.
Akiiki mentioned that Njovu was discovered in possession of some belongings belonging to the slain tourists, as well as the identity card of their Ugandan guide.
Major General Dick Olum, responsible for supervising Uganda’s military operations against the ADF in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), confirmed that six additional members of the squad were fatally shot during the operation on Tuesday.
The individuals who fell victim to the attack in October have been identified as David Barlow, a British national, along with his South African wife, Celia, and their guide, Eric Ay.
