The government of Uganda has condemned the terror attack on Kenya’s capital, Nairobi in which 21 people were killed earlier this week. Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa said the attack by Al-Shabaab militants was a cowardly act.
On Tuesday, gunmen attacked Dusit D2 Hotel along 14 Riverside Drive in Westlands, Nairobi which houses offices and hotels, opened fire and detonated explosives.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said that over 700 people were rescued and all the attackers had been eliminated.
Now Minister Sam Kutesa has said that the Ugandan government is in solidarity with Kenya following the deadly incident.
“We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Kenya. As a matter of fact, I called my counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs last night, and he assured me that government is doing everything possible to end the siege and also to rescue people,” Kutesa said on Wednesday.
“We have compassion for the families that have lost their loved ones and we pray that that those who were injured will recover,” Kutesa said.
Uganda’s Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Gen Kahinda Otafiire also condemned the act of criminality targeting innocent civilians.
“These [terrorists] are not people fighting for a genuine cause. How do you claim a genuine cause when attacking innocent people in an hotel?” Otafiire told reporters on Wednesday.
“Why attack unarmed innocent people? If it [attack] was on police installations or army barracks, that would be another matter. There is no war, this is just criminality, murdering innocent people,” the Minister noted.
He also spoke to the need for the region to work together to end the threat of terrorism since the attack such as that on Tuesday does not affect only Kenyans.