Uganda airport threat warned by US Embassy
Uganda airport threat: The Entebbe International Airport could be attacked on Thursday between 9 and 11 p.m. local time, the embassy said on its website, citing information obtained from Ugandan police.
Uganda security checks people entering Victoria Mall in Entebbe near Entebbe airport, about 42 kilometers southeast of the capital Kampala, Thursday. The US Embassy in Uganda warned on Thursday of a specific threat by an unknown terrorist group to attack the country's only international airport.
Stephen Wandera/AP
KAMPALA, Uganda
The U.S. Embassy in聽Uganda聽warned on Thursday of a specific聽threat聽by an unknown terrorist group to attack the country's only international聽airport.
The Entebbe International聽Airport聽could be attacked on Thursday between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, the embassy said on its website, citing information obtained from Ugandan police. The statement urged U.S. citizens traveling through Entebbe around that time to "review their plans in light of this information."
There is a "continued聽threat聽of potential terrorist attacks in the country," with targets ranging from nightclubs to government offices, the statement said.
The聽airport, which is about 36 kilometers south of Kampala, the Ugandan capital, was the scene in 1976 of a successful Israeli military operation to rescue dozens of hostages held by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
The warning from the embassy came the day after the U.S. government called for tighter security measures at foreign聽airportsthat have direct flights to the U.S. There are no direct flights from聽Uganda聽to the U.S. Most flights connect through Europe.
Ignie Igundura, the spokesman for聽Uganda's聽Civil Aviation Authority, said there were no plans to temporarily close the聽airport聽over a terror聽threat. He said the聽airport聽had since taken some security measures that he declined to talk about.
Ugandan police have also issued several terror alerts in recent times, warning that the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab may be plotting a major attack on Ugandan territory.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in July 2010 that targeted restaurants and bars showing World Cup games on giant screens in Kampala. The group was also behind an attack on an upscale mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which scores were killed.
Both聽Uganda聽and Kenya have sent troops into Somalia to battle the militants under the banner of the African Union.