One of the suicide bombers killed in Tuesday morning’s foiled terror attack at Munyonyo Basilica has been identified as the daughter of the assailant who blew himself up at Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) during the deadly November 2021 terror attacks, security officials have confirmed.
Photographic evidence released by Ugandan intelligence agencies shows the female suspect posing inside an unfinished house, believed to have been a safe hideout before the failed operation. The image has since circulated among top security operatives as part of an ongoing forensic and intelligence review.
The woman, who was wearing a suicide vest, was intercepted by a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) counter-terrorism unit just meters away from Munyonyo Basilica, one of the main Catholic pilgrimage sites for Uganda Martyrs Day.
“Upon being shot, the suicide vests exploded,” a senior military source revealed, confirming that both suspects died instantly in the blast.
Security sources said the attackers arrived on a boda boda motorcycle, which was completely destroyed in the explosion. Human remains, believed to belong to the attackers, were recovered from the scene, which has since been cordoned off by UPDF and police bomb squads.
The operation was part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led mission aimed at averting what would have been a devastating attack during Martyrs Day celebrations, an annual event that draws millions of Christian pilgrims from across Uganda and the East African region.
Colonel Chris Magezi, the Acting Director of Defence Public Information, said in a Tuesday statement: “A UPDF counter-terrorism unit this morning intercepted and neutralized two armed terrorists in Munyonyo, an upscale city suburb.”
“It was an intelligence-led operation, and the security services are on heightened alert to ensure the Martyrs Day celebrations proceed without disruption,” Col Magezi added.
The foiled attack has reignited concerns about the resilience of domestic terror cells linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist organization aligned to the Islamic State (ISIS).
Tuesday’s incident now draws a direct bloodline between the latest foiled bombing and the coordinated 2021 attacks in Kampala.
In November 2021, the bomber, father to the killed Munyonyo suspect, detonated a suicide belt at the entrance to Kampala CPS, killing himself and several others. That same morning, two other explosions rocked Parliament Avenue and a nearby checkpoint, marking one of the deadliest terror days in Uganda’s recent history
Security officials are now pursuing leads to establish whether the suspects killed in Munyonyo were part of a larger coordinated cell with orders to disrupt Martyrs Day events.
