Tension As Another Improvised Explosive Device Discovered In Nateete

Police have blocked off the Mabiito commercial center in Nateete, Rubaga Division, after another suspected IED was discovered.

With an increasing police and UPDF presence, business has ceased, and traders have been asked to leave the center.

Unidentified suspect who was found with a bag carrying a passport and yellow fever card that didn’t match his identify has been taken into custody and is being questioned by security personnel at the scene.

However, the bomb squad has yet to arrive at the scene more than an hour after the area was roped off.

This comes after three more bombs were discovered in a private residence on Sunday in the Lungujja suburbs-Rubaga region of Kampala, according to police.

This occurred a few hours after another explosive was found on a suspected suicide bomber who was walking toward the security checkpoint at Pastor Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Center Cathedral in Rubaga.  

 Abdallahim Kintu, a 28-year-old suspect, was arrested, and the bomb that he had hidden in a food flask detonated. After Kintu was taken into custody, Patrick Onyango, a spokesman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, reported.

Onyango added  that the police went to another rental home in Lungujja as a result of information that suspicious individuals were residing there and at the time of the raid, the one-room residence was deserted. 

Police were informed by residents in the area that some young people who lived in the residence had gone in the morning. 

 According to Onyango, the bomb squad team examined the room and found three devices that were already built as well as various components for IEDs or bombs.

 He claimed that while looking for suspects, the police disarmed all three devices at the location.  

 In his own words, Pastor Kayanja:  The congregation and Pastor Robert Kayanja, who was preaching in the church at around 11:00 a.m. during the second service, learned about the incident only after they were told that a terrorist had been trying to enter the church when he was stopped.

 Pastor Kayanja moved with his personal protection toward the checkpoint, which was roughly 100 meters from the church, after the bomb was disarmed. 

He briefly spoke with the police, notably Stephen Tanui, the KMP commander, and expressed gratitude for a job well done. 

 Kayanja later spoke with reporters and praised God for guarding the believers, stating that they typically host four services on Sunday with large crowds. 

 He thanked God that no one was wounded, stating that if the bomb had gone off during church, the entire roof would have collapsed, causing numerous casualties. “It would still be bad even if it exploded in the parking lot or close by, there are always many people,” he remarked.  

He praised the police and all the security services involved for their work in locating and apprehending the suspect, and he urged the populace to exercise caution since it appeared that terrorists had penetrated the nation.  

He told the journalists, “We again thank God that this man (suspected terrorist) did not enter our premises, and you should therefore be vigilant wherever you are to avoid these terrorists,” adding that this was more than just chatter and posed a serious threat to the nation.

  As most of the numerous gates and exits were sealed up, it is stated that the police advised the worshippers who were entering the Church to stop and keep their distance until the device was defused. 

Additionally, before the bomb detonated, people were told to pull their cars back a ways.   The Old Taxi park’s Nabukeera Plaza saw the defusing of a second bomb in a black bag on Saturday, September 2, 2023, according to Onyango.