The leader of Somalia's Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab group, which claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Uganda, thanked the bombers Thursday and warned that more operations were to come. “What happened in Kampala is just the beginning,” Mohamed Abdi Godane, also known as Abu Zubayr, said in an audio message broadcast on several Mogadishu radio stations. At least 73 people were killed in bomb explosions targeting two Kampala entertainment spots where crowds of people had gathered to watch the football World Cup final on July 11. Uganda wants new rules of engagement that will allow its peacekeeping troops in Somalia to go on the offensive against rebels who claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in Kampala last weekend. As Al-Shabab threatened further violence against Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni said he would push for African Union troops in Somalia to be permitted to take on the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents and prevent them from carrying out more attacks in the region. Uganda and Burundi together contribute about 6,000 troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. It regularly trades fire with insurgents in the capital Mogadishu, but is not mandated to go on the offensive against them. Museveni also said Uganda would tighten its internal security to keep out foreigners intent on further attacks. “We are now going to go on the offensive and get these people. We were in Mogadishu on the African Union mission to guard the port, airport and state house,” the Ugandan president told a news conference late on Wednesday. – Agencies“But now they have mobilised us to look for them. In the past we were not involved in Somali affairs, now we are taking a big interest in these groups.” Asked if that approach would require a change of mandate for the force, Museveni said, “It will have to be peace enforcement to bring a solution to Somalia.”
