uganda fears terror attack after finding militant cell

KAMPALA, Uganda — The Ugandan authorities have uncovered a “terrorist cell” run by the Somali militant Islamist group the Shabab, which they said they believed was planning an imminent attack, the United States Embassy in Uganda said Saturday.

“At this point we are not aware of specific targets, and the Ugandan authorities have increased security at key sites, including Entebbe International Airport,” the embassy said in a statement on its website.

Uganda, as one of the countries that contribute forces to an African Union peacekeeping mission battling the Shabab’s fighters in Somalia, has been the scene of militant attacks in recent years, and the Shabab have threatened more.

The United States Embassy, shortly before issuing its announcement, told American citizens in Uganda, in a message posted on Twitter, to stay at home or proceed to a safe location while the Ugandan authorities completed operations against a suspected cell in Kampala, the capital.

The Ugandan police declined to comment but were expected to hold a news conference later in the day.

The Shabab, a militant network with links to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for an attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, a year ago, in which 67 people were killed.

This month, the Pentagon announced that American airstrikes on an encampment and a vehicle south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, had killed the Shabab’s leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, one of the most wanted men in Africa. The group has vowed to avenge his death.

In 2010, the Shabab bombed a restaurant in Uganda where people were watching a World Cup soccer match on television, killing more than 70 people.

The United States Embassy has said that Uganda faces a “continued threat” and it has issued other alerts during the year about possible attacks.