Security to check breasts for bombs

Police in Uganda have urged hotel owners and security staff to thoroughly check women's bras following a threat by terrorists to use "bra bombs".

"We don't always allow men to check women's  breasts but we have now got reports that terrorists have devised bra bombs. We appeal to women security personnel to thoroughly check women's bras," said Lodovick Awita, a counter terrorism expert.

Awita said the terrorists were devising new methods of attack to beat the tight security measures.

He was speaking during a sensitisation meeting for hotel proprietors and their security personnel at Hotel Africana in Kampala last evening.

"Terrorists can resort to assassination, kidnap, maiming, poisoning, hijacking or using cyber attacks to cause trouble," Awita said.

He urged the hotel security personnel to watch out for guests who make last-minute reservations, do not allow attendants in their rooms and those who receive many visitors.

"Ensure that all vehicles and their occupants are thoroughly checked. Supervise the parking yards, use walk-ins, metal detectors and, if possible, x-ray machines," he said.

Awita also told hotel proprietors to screen and keep records of all their staff and guests.

"Don't allow hawkers into hotels. We cannot trust them. Check out for guests who dress without regard to the weather," he said.

The Police commissioner in charge of community affairs, Asuman Mugenyi, said the measures were intended to ensure the safety of guests and to avert terror attacks.

"Full records of all guests booking into a hotel must be registered," he said.

The executive director of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, Ismail Sekandi, urged the Government to streamline the operations of guest houses.

"We try to ensure the safety of our guests, but we are let down by guest houses. Many times they are mistaken for hotels, yet many of them do not register with our association."

The warning by Police comes more than a week after Police chief Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura issued a terror alert and announced comprehensive measures to guard against possible terror attacks.

The terror alerts come against the back-drop of repeated threats by al-Shabaab, a Somali militia outfit, and follows twin bomb attacks in the Kampala in July that left about 79 people dead and over 50 others injured.

Meanwhile, security operatives at the Busia border post have arrested three Somalis.

The suspects were travelling from Nairobi, Kenya aboard a Kampala-bound bus.

Bob Kagarura, the district Police commander, confirmed the arrest and said they were being held over entering the country illegally.