Hundreds of Ugandan tryoops spread out through the dense rain forests of eastern Congo on Thursday, searching for the Rwandan rebels who slaughtered foreign tourists. At least 15 rebels were reported killed.
The search came as rebels warned in leaflets that they would launch more attacks. The report by Uganda’s private Central Broadcasting Service did not say whether the threat was specifically aimed at foreigners.
Six hundred Ugandan soldiers were joined by a number of Rwandan troops and Ugandan police, authorities said.
The joint forces killed 15 rebels Wednesday in Congo, 12 miles southwest of Bwindi National Park, which the tourists were visiting, said Lt. Col. Benan Biraaro, divisional commander of Uganda’s southwestern region.
Biraaro said rebels were seen wearing clothing they had stolen from the tourists.
Police also reinforced troops on the Uganda border, trying to close in on the Congo-based rebels who slaughtered the tourists with machetes and axes in southwestern Uganda’s Impenetrable Forest. The tourists were there to view rare mountain gorillas.
An FBI team was in Kampala, the capital, investigating the deaths of the two Americans. Four Britons and two New Zealanders also were killed. Six other tourists were seized but survived.
