Tourist Killing: Was Ugandan Army Lax?

Uganda's Impenetrable Forest proved all too penetrable. Five tourists from a group of 15 -- which included Americans -- were killed early Tuesday in a shootout between their Hutu militia captors and Ugandan troops on a rescue mission. The remaining captives, who had been seized from a remote tent camp while on a tour of the forest to view rare mountain gorillas, were freed.

The incident suggests that Ugandan troops on the border with the Congo, where the incident took place, are neglecting their duties. "Uganda's justification for its substantial troop presence on the Congo side is to secure its borders against Hutu incursions," says TIME reporter Clive Mutiso. "But there are reports that many of the Ugandan soldiers in Congo have turned into entrepreneurs, and are focusing more of their attention on extracting minerals and doing business than on securing their borders." They can expect a harsh shakeup from the Ugandan government, however -- tourism is far more important to the central African country's economy than any business its soldiers can do across the border.