FCDO ‘clarifies’ Uganda advice after new terror attack

The FCDO started advising against all non-essential visits to Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park in October after a honeymooning couple from Berkshire and their driver were killed in an attack, which has been blamed on an Islamist extremist group.

Now the Foreign Office has clarified that this non-essential travel advice also applies to the southern sector of nearby Kibale Forest National Park and Kibale Forest Corridor Game Reserve in western Uganda, which are popular with tourists for viewing chimpanzees.

The latest move by the FCDO follows another terrorist attack earlier this week, which saw 10 people killed at a bar and farm in Kyabandara in the southern part of Kibale Forest area.

“There have been a series of terrorist attacks in areas of western Uganda near to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including in national parks,” said the FCDO in its latest advisory.

“You should exercise particular caution in these areas and follow the advice of local authorities.” 

The FCDO added that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) Islamist group is thought to be behind recent attacks in western Uganda, with security forces currently “pursuing some of the attackers in Kibale National Park”.

“Tourists and foreign nationals may be targeted by the ADF in areas near the border with the DRC,” warned the FCDO.