On Monday, Somalia and Uganda announced that their respective security agencies had foiled terror attacks in their capital cities.
Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) forces prevented an al-Shabaab terrorist group attack on Mogadishu’s peace garden park, a popular site near the presidential palace, according to the country’s Information Ministry.
According to the ministry, during the operation, intelligence personnel recovered suicide vests and an auto rickshaw intended for use in the attack.
Six people were arrested in Uganda by security forces for reportedly possessing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planned for use during anti-government protests in the capital, Kampala.
According to Maj. Charles Kabona, a spokesman for the Uganda People’s Defense Force, joint actions were carried out on Monday morning in response to a tip.
The Uganda Freedom Activists group called for the nationwide protests to protest the country’s economic woes and corruption.
Security has been beefed up in Kampala and its environs to keep protesters at away, after the police declared the rally “illegal.”
Along with the arrests, police said at the site that 12 wine bottles, charcoal dust, sugar, a jerrycan of petrol, matchboxes, a blasting cap, dynamite, and candlewick were seized.
Both Somalia and Uganda have been targeted by the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabaab, which has been fighting Somalia’s government and African Union forces in the Horn of Africa since 2007.