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Uganda. By (AFP)
Ugandan security forces searched a thick bush Thursday in search of an American tourist and his safari guide, who were kidnapped by gunmen in a national park.
"The rescue operation of the tourist is still going on," Ugandan Minister of Tourism Godfrey Kiwanda told AFP on Thursday.
Four kidnappers arrested a group of tourists under the threat of a gun around dusk on Tuesday while they were crossing Queen Elizabeth National Park on a safari to see wild animals.
Police identified the American as a 35-year-old woman and said that the kidnappers had subsequently used her mobile phone to demand a ransom of $ 500,000 (445,000 euros) for the release of the pair. The driver is a 48 year old safari guide with years of experience.
The gunmen pulled the pair from their safari vehicle, but left two other tourists, whom the police described as being an "elderly couple". They managed to ring the alarm from the lodge where they were staying.
Brigadier Richard Karemire, spokesman for the army, said the security forces were doing their utmost to find the gunmen.
"Let the security forces do their job," he said Thursday.
The US Embbady in Kampala said it was aware of the kidnapping and warned its citizens to "exercise caution when they visit this region because of ongoing security activities."
The soldiers deployed their forces along the porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, with security forces insisting that the two men remain in the country.
The Ugandan police tourist protection force has also deployed a special intervention unit alongside soldiers and forest guards.
Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of East Africa's most popular wildlife sanctuaries, runs along the border with conflict-ridden areas of the DRC, bordering its famous Virunga National Park, the oldest d & # 39; Africa.
Many militia groups and armed gangs crisscross the east of DR Congo. The Virunga have suspended all tourist activities last year after the killing of a ranger and the kidnapping of two British tourists.
The British and their driver were released two days after the attack. The park reopened in February.
The Ugandan Park straddles the Equator and covers 1,978 square kilometers in the south-west of the country.
Tourism is a key industry for Uganda, as the main source of foreign exchange. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit each year.
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