British tourist shot dead in Uganda safari ‘ambush’

A British tourist and his new wife have been shot dead in an “ambush” at a Ugandan safari park while on their honeymoon.

Police in Uganda said they believe the two foreign holidaymakers were touring the Queen Elizabeth National Park with their local guide when the trio was gunned down and their car was burned in a “cowardly” attack on Tuesday evening.

The British man and South African woman, who have both not yet been named, were a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, while their Ugandan driver has been named locally as Eric Alyai.

The four-wheel-drive vehicle the trio was travelling in was found still on fire in the national park in the southwest of the country, with flames and plumes of smoke seen billowing off its bonnet in a picture Uganda’s police posted on its X account.

Ivan Wassaaka, co-owner of Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris, the company that ran the tour, told The Independent the trio’s safari vehicle was “ambushed” between 6pm and 7pm, local time.

Paying tribute to his employee, Mr Wassaaka said, “It is so sad. He’s very nice, liked by all clients, very knowledgeable – but sadly he’s gone. It’s a very sad day for us.”

In a statement released on X on Wednesday, president Yoweri Museveni described the assault as a “cowardly act on the part of the terrorists attacking innocent civilians and tragic for the couple who were newlyweds and visiting Uganda on their honeymoon”.

He vowed that Ugandan forces would track down those responsible for the deaths, saying the terrorists "will pay with their own wretched lives”.

Ugandan police pledged to “aggressively pursue” the assailants, blaming the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a shadowy rebel outfit with ties to the Islamic State group. Museveni asserted the ADF’s responsibility, urging security agencies to ensure the group “is wiped out”.

Uganda Police spokesperson Fred Enanga wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “We have registered a cowardly terrorist attack on two foreign tourists and a Ugandan in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The three were killed, and their safari vehicle burnt.

“Our joint forces responded immediately upon receiving the information and are aggressively pursuing the suspected ADF rebels. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”

The ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the late 1990s. It pledged allegiance to Islamic State in mid-2019 and is accused of killing thousands of villagers in frequent raids over the past decade.

The police did not give a precise location for the attack. The national park’s western boundary is the shore of Lake Edward, which separates Uganda from Congo.

Bashir Hangi, spokesperson of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said the attack took place on Tuesday evening. The wildlife authority said in a statement that one tourist was from South Africa and the other from the United Kingdom.

Following the incident, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its travel advice for Uganda, warning against “all but essential travel” to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

A statement on its website said: “If you are currently in the Park, you should follow the advice of local security authorities. If you are able to do so safely, you should consider leaving the area.”

Rebels from ADF have previously carried out attacks in the area and across the border in Congo, where they have bases.

Uganda and Congo launched a joint ground and air operation against the ADF in December 2021 in an effort to eliminate them from eastern Congo. Uganda says it has succeeded in killing more than 560 fighters and destroyed their camps.

Last week, ADF fighters killed at least one man and injured another when it ambushed a truck in western Uganda.

In September, Mr Museveni said an air strike had killed a senior ADF commander, Meddie Nkalubo, who is accused of being a mastermind of suicide bombings in Kampala in 2021 that left seven people dead.

Museveni said on Sunday that the relentless offensive against ADF, including air strikes a day before, had forced ADF fighters to re-enter Uganda where they could possibly increase attacks.

The Independent has approached the British High Commission Kampala for comment.