KHARTOUM (Reuters) – The United States has warned that “regional extremists” were planning an attack on Air Uganda flights between southern Sudan and Kampala.
Uganda’s army said it was aware of the threat and was taking precautions. “We’re a constant target of these extremists and are always alert, so there is no cause for alarm,” Uganda’s army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye told Reuters.
A south Sudanese government official confirmed authorities had received warnings last year that a group was planning to use Air Uganda to attack Kampala through Sudan.
But Sudan’s Khartoum-based foreign ministry said U.S. reports of a planned attack were “incorrect and unfounded”.
The warning came amid heightened tensions following the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound US airliner blamed on a Nigerian man who US officials believe was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.
The United States stepped up security screenings of passengers travelling from or through Sudan and 13 other countries after the failed attack.
US embassy staff in Khartoum published a warning late on Friday on their website of “a potential threat against commercial aviation transiting between Juba (southern Sudan’s capital) and Kampala, Uganda.“
