NAIROBI: Uganda’s military has severed all military cooperation with Germany after it accused Berlin’s ambassador to Kampala of involvement in “subversive activities” in the East African country, its spokesperson said.
“The Uganda People’s Defense Forces has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defense and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany,” UPDF spokesperson Chris Magezi said in a statement posted on X platform on Sunday.
The decision was “in response to credible intelligence reports that the current German Ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Mathias Schauer is actively engaged in subversive activities in the country,” Magezi said.
He did not give details of those activities or details of any existing military cooperation between Uganda and Germany.
Germany’s embassy in Kampala did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Uganda has its troops in the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, AUSSOM, which is partly funded by the European Union, of which Germany is a member.
In a post on the X platform on Sunday, Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba said the military was having problems with Schauer as a person.
“It has to do with him as a person. He is wholly unqualified to be in Uganda. It has nothing to do with the great German people,” said Kainerugaba.
The spokesperson for Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs could not be reached for comment as her phone was switched off.
Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni and widely seen as heir apparent, is widely known for his inflammatory posts on social media which have included threats to Western diplomats in Kampala.
This month he warned the EU was “playing with fire” after a group of EU ambassadors met officials from Uganda’s largest opposition party including its leader, pop star-turned-politician, Bobi Wine.
Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador
https://arab.news/rrj93
Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador
- The Ugandan People’s Defence Forces suspended all its ongoing military and defence activities with Germany
- The move comes after the current German Ambassador to Uganda, Mathias Schauer, is accused of engaging in “subversive activities” in the country
Will Afghanistan’s pledge against cross-border attacks ease tensions with Pakistan?
- Afghan clerics’ decree banned use of Afghan soil for cross-border attacks on Wednesday
- Latest heavy firing between Afghanistan, Pakistan killed at least 5 people
KABUL: As tensions flare up again between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghan leadership has moved to reaffirm its commitment against cross-border militancy this week in what is seen as Kabul’s attempt to move the needle on peace negotiations, after multiple rounds of talks failed to produce a lasting truce.
The neighboring countries have struggled to maintain a fragile ceasefire after border clashes killed dozens in October, the worst fighting since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
While subsequent talks toward a permanent ceasefire yielded little progress, the temporary truce brokered by Qatar and Turkiye collapsed last Friday, with heavy firing along the Spin Boldak-Chaman border that killed at least five people.
Over the years Pakistan has put much of the blame for the border clashes on the government in Kabul allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — an outlawed armed group, which is separate from the Afghan Taliban — to use Afghan territory for cross-border attacks — a claim that Afghanistan has repeatedly denied.
Afghanistan again pledged to prevent its territory from being used to harm other countries on Thursday, with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi highlighting it as a religious duty, as endorsed just a day earlier by around 1,000 Afghan clerics in a fatwa, or religious decree.
“The fatwa was more political than religious,” Kabul University lecturer Abdullah Awwab told Arab News on Friday.
“I think it was a smooth way out of the pressure put on them by Pakistan and mediators, who were asking for a fatwa against the TTP. The emirate couldn’t issue that, so instead they had scholars issue a fatwa for ordinary Afghans, banning them from jihad abroad.
“The fatwa shows Pakistan that the Taliban can use a fatwa to stop Afghans from joining the war. It demonstrates Kabul’s power and control over its own soil and people — and, at the same time, it shows Pakistan’s weakness in needing to ask Kabul for a religious fatwa.”
Addressing new graduates at a ceremony in Kabul, Muttaqi said the Taliban had not “permitted anyone to carry out military activities in other countries” and that the government had the right to take action against anyone who violated the directive.
“The leaders and elders of this Islamic emirate have pledged that Afghan soil will not be used to harm anyone. All the scholars and religious leaders affirmed that obeying this commitment is necessary for all Muslims,” he said.
“Just as this nation has historically acted upon the fatwas and advice of its scholars, so too will (it) act upon them now. This is our shared duty.”
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy to Afghanistan, said the decree was a “very significant” development.
“Hopefully, the TTP, which owes allegiance to the Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, will now submit to the collective wisdom of the Afghan Taliban ulema and surrender arms,” he wrote on X.
Though the decree answers one of Pakistan’s demands, Afghan political analyst Wasi Baheer said it had “no direct impact” in the conflict.
“Pakistan’s harsh words and threats to Kabul don’t mean much, because the real issue is inside Pakistan,” he told Arab News.
“They cannot simply force changes in Kabul. The main reason talks collapsed in Qatar, Istanbul, and Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan demanded the Taliban act harshly against the TTP — which makes no sense, because it is an internal Pakistani problem. Using force here in Afghanistan will not bring any relief to Pakistan’s security.”
