With things going so well lately in Uganda we did not need this..

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/...li=BBnbfcL&ocid=iehp

"traveling with the group near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo".

What better choice!

Kidnappings along the DRC border are as common as cups and saucers in a coffee shop. It wasn't smart to get that close and I somehow do not believe she was not forewarned.

The northern rim of Uganda...has always been a safety concern. The Karamojong themselves posed a very slight risk when every one you saw in the bush was carrying an AK.

Then from northern Kenya, through south Sudan, to the DRC...some bad folks inhabit those areas and raid into Uganda frequently.

Right after my hunt there...a friend was hunting northern Karamoja in 2010...they got into a little dust-up between the Ugandan army and some group out of either south Sudan or northwestern Kenya and took some close mortar fire. They had to take cover.

It looked pretty calm when I was there just a month ago.

Lots of criminal activity on the other side of the border in DRC per the locals. To be honest, 2 old folks getting away and the police stating they think they are still there and leaving a car behind... let’s wait and see what comes of this. Sounds a little odd to me.

Agreed. Sounds very odd to me as well. I worked for a company that specialized in personnel recovery. My experiences were that the only confirmed truth in most initial reports is "something happened"; and most kidnappings are not.

Regardless, I hope no one is injured or in danger in this situation.

This will be a growing problem in the future. A good reason to plan ahead with country sitreps from outfits like Global Rescue, and maybe the services of a kidnap insurance firm - Global is affordable enough, don't know about the others.

Uganda is on my short list. There's always going to be issues, but it sounds like this was a photo group. Much more likely targets.

Insurance law is my thing and there is kidnap insurance, but you probably don't want to advertise that you have it. Companies buy it for employees and don't even tell their employees, for rather obvious reasons.

According to the last report, they went out without the parks ranger that is required... This is looking a bit more hinky.

Global Rescue is reporting on it...thus must be something to it.

Was in that very park. Very safe. We had rangers. No issues. I suspect there is lot more to this story.

quote:

I suspect there is lot more to this story.

The "kidnap victim" is an animal rights activist.

"animal rights activist" ????? perhaps we can fund a "keep him" campaign.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - An American tourist who was kidnapped alongside her driver in a national park in southwestern Uganda has been rescued unharmed, the Ugandan military told Reuters on Sunday.

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Originally posted by fulvio:
KAMPALA (Reuters) - An American tourist who was kidnapped alongside her driver in a national park in southwestern Uganda has been rescued unharmed, the Ugandan military told Reuters on Sunday.

Other stories are saying the ransom was paid...who knows at this point.

The best rescue is an Entebbe rescue. Haven’t had one of those in a while. Need some.

Makes me want an M4 as my second rifle.

CNN—Abducted American freed: (note source—take with a grain of salt)

Kimberly Sue Endicott is free this morning, after her dream trip to Uganda turned into a nightmare. Endicott and a guide were kidnapped by gunmen last week while they were on an excursion to see gorillas at a Ugandan national park. The armed gang demanded a ransom of $500,000, Ugandan police said. Security forces rescued Endicott and the guide, who were both unharmed, yesterday in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. A ransom was paid to free them, a source told CNN.

quote:

Security forces rescued Endicott and the guide, who were both unharmed, yesterday in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. A ransom was paid to free them, a source told CNN.

They can't have it both ways...ransom and rescue.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Security forces rescued Endicott and the guide, who were both unharmed, yesterday in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. A ransom was paid to free them, a source told CNN.

They can't have it both ways...ransom and rescue.

It's CNN,........they can try.

.

quote:

It's CNN,........they can try.

I believe a ransom was paid though the police officer who reported the incident was very unhappy with that as now it will encourage more kidnappings of tourists. Apparently park tourism is a significant source of income for Ugandans. I suspect they will go hard to nip this in the bud ASAP.