Aggrieved. Protesters smash the windows of the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday. PHOTO BY AFP
At least 500
Ugandan private security guards at the United States of America embassy
in Baghdad were involved in the running battles with the Iraqi
demonstrators who attacked the establishment on Tuesday.
A
video posted on Twitter by Live Breaking News, a US news wire, shows
Ugandan armed guards dressed in ballistic vests and helmets standing at
the entrance of the embassy as demonstrators smash the outer wall.
In
the video, they had been mistakenly identified as American marines but
Mr Alex Plitsas, an American journalist and former soldier, who twice
served in Iraq, said they were Ugandan guards.
“These
are not US Marine Embassy Guards. These are armed security guards
contracted by the State Department who have staffed the embassy for the
last 10+ years. Most of them are Ugandan nationals,” he tweeted on
Tuesday.
Mr Plitsas later told Daily Monitor on
Wednesday that he had been to the American embassy in Iraq and could
identify that they were Ugandan guards by their uniform.
The
Ugandan guards are the first line of defence at the embassy because
they man towers, entry points, check all the visitors and also guard an
air strip inside the embassy premises.
Former guards at the embassy, who did not want to be named,
confirmed that the men in the video were Ugandans, who make 85 per cent
of the guards at the embassy. Other guards are from Kenya, India and
Peru.
The violent protests came after US airstrikes on
Sunday killed 25 fighters under the Iranian-backed force, the Kataib
Hezbollah militia, in western Iraq and eastern Syria.
The
US said the bombings were a retaliation for the death of an American
civilian worker killed during a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
Numbers
According to the sources, there are about 500 Ugandan guarding the embassy and other American diplomatic stations in Baghdad. The Ugandans, who are called Diplomatic Security Specialists, escort diplomats whenever they travel.
According to the sources, there are about 500 Ugandan guarding the embassy and other American diplomatic stations in Baghdad. The Ugandans, who are called Diplomatic Security Specialists, escort diplomats whenever they travel.
Documents seen by Daily Monitor indicate that
the guards are recruited by Saracen Uganda Limited and handed over to
Special Operations Centre [SOC], an American company contracted by the
US State Department, to provide security services to US embassies in
different countries.
There were reports that some could
have been injured but the chief executive officer of Saracen Uganda
Limited, Mr John Mugisha, said it was difficult for the demonstrators to
get contact with the Ugandan guards because of many security rings. “I
don’t think that could happen,” he said.
Asked about
the kind of contract Saracen is running with SOC, he referred the matter
to the company’s public relations officer whose phone was off.
Ms
Carly Van Orman, the cultural affairs officer under the Public Affairs
office at the US embassy in Kampala, said they were waiting for a
response from Washington.
“I can make the inquiries
and get information from main State Department. [But] because of time
difference, we might not give a response until tomorrow,” she said.
During
the attack, the US chinook heavy transport helicopters and UH-60
helicopters evacuated the embassy officials. After the attack, US
President Donald Trump said Iran “will pay a very big price” for any
damage or loss of life. “This is not a warning, it is a threat,” he
said.
Mr Martin Wandera, the director of Labour in the
Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development under whose docket the
recruitment of these guards falls, said they had not got any
information about the guards being involved in the running battles with
these demonstrators.
“I have heard about the attack on the embassy but we don’t have confirmation that Ugandans were involved,” he said.
rkasasira@ug.nationmedia.com
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