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CMI, police release 14 terror suspects

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | At least 14 out of 50 people arrested in connection to the bomb explosions in Kampala and Mpigi district have been released following the failure by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence-CMI, and police to find evidence linking them to the blasts that claimed the lives of two people.

The joint security team picked up the suspects in connection to the blasts at Digida pork joint in Komamboga in Kawempe division, which killed Emily Nyinaneza on the spot and another on a Swift Bus that killed Isaac Matovu.

However, CMI and Crime Intelligence backed by Internal Security Organization (ISO) and Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) claim that Matovu was a suicide bomber. Following the two explosions, the security agencies arrested 48 suspects in the first week of the blasts. More suspects were arrested last week bringing to 50, the number of the suspects.

While updating the country on behalf of other security agencies, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said all those released are relatives or friends to the wanted suspects.

Some of the suspects in the custody of CMI and Special Investigations Division are Yusuf Muwonge, who security claim is the man who disembarked from a Swift Bus at Maya along Masala road, minutes before Isaac Matovu detonated a suicide vest.

Muwonge’s property owner Umar Kaggwa is also in the cells on accusations of harbouring a terror suspect. JATT and the police bomb squad claim that they found Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in Muwonge’s rented room in Kawempe Ttula, ready for use.

Security agencies picked suspects in the areas of Kawempe Ttula, Kireka Bbira, Masajja, Buikwe, Gangu, Mityana and Kasangati. One of the suspects Adam Matovu was shot dead in the wee hours of Friday morning at Naguru.

Although Enanga said he was escaping from security after a search, locals and a security officer said he was shot dead while in handcuffs. “There were two patrols and a van all having military and police officers. They just decided to shoot him dead. How could he have escaped on handcuffs?” asked a security source.

The bomb squad has since established that Digida and Swift Bus bombs were made of nails, ball bearings and ammonium nitrate. The suspects exploded the two bombs using old mobile phone batteries they attached to them.

The army and police also claim that Yusuf Muwonge who was arrested at the weekend after escaping from Ttula and Bbira in Wakiso district was found hiding at Bombo-Kalule village where a suspect in the June 1 shooting at Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, a one Kanaabe was arrested. This morning police released two composite images of two men suspected to have planted and detonated the Komamboga bomb.  The images were drawn basing on the witnesses descriptions. The men have now been put on the police wanted list of criminals.

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