Sheikh Kirevu was part of ADF recruitment cell in Uganda- police

Police said Thursday that Sheikh Muhammad Abbas Kirevu was gunned down in Nsangi, Wakiso District following a violent confrontation with security operatives who had been deployed to effect his arrest.

The Force’s spokesperson, Mr Fred Enanga said Sheikh Kirevu was responsible for coordination and recruitment of some Ugandans into the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group that has been blamed for Tuesday’s twin bombings that hit Kampala, leaving seven people, including three suspected suicide bombers dead.

“Sheikh Muhammad Kirevu was put out of action during a scuffle with our security team as he tried to resist arrest. He’s part of the ADF’s recruitment and coordination cell in the country,” CP Enanga told journalists in a press briefing at the Force’s headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.

Security operatives are now hunting for a one Sheikh Sulaiman Nsubuga, a resident of Kajjansi, Entebbe Road and others for also being part of the rebel group's recruitment and coordination cell in Uganda, according to Mr Enanga.

“He's one of those who have been recruiting and trafficking Ugandans into DR Congo for training.

We got information that they have been buying materials they use to make improvised explosive devices,” Mr Enanga said.

Tuesday's attacks occurred within minutes of each other, with two suicide bombers on motorbikes disguised as "boda boda" motorcycle taxi drivers detonating a device near Parliament, while a third attacker targeted a checkpoint near the central police station in Kampala .

Security forces blamed the attacks on "domestic terrorists" linked to the ADF, an armed group active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

They followed two attacks last month also blamed by Kampala on the ADF, which the United States has linked to the IS group.

Mr Enanga further noted that police are hunting for more suspects, after foiling a third bombing on Tuesday and shooting dead the suspected suicide attacker identified as Adam Matovu alias Mowzey.

Police last month arrested a number of alleged ADF operatives and warned that extremists were believed to be plotting a new attack on "major installations".

The arrests followed an explosion on a Swift Safaris bus in Mpigi District and a bombing at a roadside eatery in Komamboga, a Kampala suburb.

Security forces also blamed the ADF for a foiled attack in August on the funeral of Deputy IGP, Paul Lokech who led a major offensive against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.

Washington in March linked the ADF to IS, which in 2019 began to claim some ADF attacks on social media, presenting the group as its regional branch -- the Islamic State Central Africa Province, or ISCAP.

The ADF, historically a Ugandan rebel group, has been accused of killing thousands of civilians in eastern DRC.

Security experts consider the ADF to be the bloodiest of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC, many of them a legacy of two regional wars a quarter of a century ago.

In 2010, twin bombings in Kampala targeting fans watching the World Cup final left 76 people dead, with Al-Shabaab claiming responsibility.

The attack was seen as revenge for Uganda sending troops to Somalia as part of an African Union mission to confront Al-Shabaab.