The security agencies have claimed capture of Abdallah Musa Kabanda aka Mogo suspected to have been the ringleader of an Allied Democratic Front (ADF) terror gang operating in Uganda’s central region.
Commissioner of Police, Fred Enanga, claims that Kabanda was arrested in a joint operation conducted by Counter-Terrorism forces alongside the army spy unit the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).
It is alleged that Kabanda was picked from his hideout in Katooke village, Nansana Municipality, in one of Uganda’s largest districts Wakiso. “At the time of his arrest, he was actively involved in the recruitment and radicalisation of youth, into the ADF ranks. We have also established that the suspect was part of the group that assembled the suicide bomb jackets, that were used in the bomb attacks at CPS and Parliament Avenue,” Commissioner Enanga said.
Uganda was on November 16 last year attacked with huge explosions which left seven people dead including three suspected suicide bombers. One of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) went off at capital’s major police station while another exploded a few metres from Parliament’s main entrance.
In response, Uganda launched inside and outside hunt for the suspected ADF terrorists including invading the alleged camps of ADF in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More than 10 suspected ADF members have been killed by forces while dozens have been arrested.
Enanga explains that terror cells are still existing in various parts of Uganda mostly in the Central region. Security forces say Kabanda was found with an SMG Riffle with 9 ammunitions, 11 phones, three SIM cards, a flash with radical videos, five exercise books with Arabic literature, bomb making materials and cash 500,000.
“Before joining the ADF, Kabanda Abdallah Musa, subscribed to the Al-Shabaab terror group. In 2015, he was arrested during the hearing of the terrorism case against the accused persons, who participated in the 2010 twin bombings in Kampala. This after, he was seen registering names of security personnel attached to the case and the number plates of their respective motor vehicles,” Enanga explains.
Kabanda is linked to Meddie Nkalubo, the alleged mastermind of the terror attacks and assassinations in the country. Security says Kabanda’s in-law Kisambira Muhammad, was one of the assailants who attempted to murder General Katumba Wamala.