US Embassy Warns of Possible Terror Threat at Uganda Airport
The U.S. Embassy in Uganda issued a warning Thursday that an unknown terrorist group could be planning a terror attack at the country's Entebbe International Airport that day.
The embassy released a statement citing intelligence information from the Ugandan police about a "specific threat" from attackers who may be preparing to strike targets at the airport between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time Thursday. The embassy advised people planning to travel through the country's only international airport to "review their plans in light of the information," The Associated Press reported.
There is a "continued threat of potential terrorist attacks in the country," with targets ranging from nightclubs to government offices, the statement reads.
The warning about the airport, which is near Ugandan's capital, Kampala, came one day after the Obama administration announced it was beefing up security measures for some U.S.-bound flights from Europe and the Middle East due to concerns that terrorists are developing highly sophisticated bombs that are harder to detect at airport screenings, CNN reported.
There were no plans to temporarily close the airport over a terror threat, said Ignie Igundura, the spokesman for Uganda's Civil Aviation Authority. He added that the airport had since adopted extra security measures.
Although the effort will not affect the items travelers are allowed to take aboard flights, passengers' shoes and electronics may be inspected additional times, and security may also include more scanners that "detect trace amounts of explosives, and another stage of screening at boarding gates," a Department of Homeland Security official said, according to CNN.
Also, extra security was added Thursday to the road to Entebbe, about 26 miles outside the capital.
Ugandan police have issued several terror alerts recently to give warning "that the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab may be plotting a major attack on Ugandan territory," the AP reported.
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