54 killed in Uganda fighting between rebels, army

KAMPALA / AP

Scores of people have been killed in fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo, Ugandan officials said on Sunday as security forces battled armed men protecting a tribal king who is accused of leading the rebels.
At least 54 people, including 41 rebels and 13 police officers, have been killed in clashes in Uganda’s Rwenzori region, police spokesman Felix Kaweesi told reporters. Four police officials and four soldiers have been wounded, he said. The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Ugandan security forces and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country’s long-time president.
Gunfire rang out outside the king’s palace on Sunday as Ugandan troops tried to break into the premises and disarm his guards.
After the rebels had killed four police officers, security forces launched an operation to disarm the royal guards and other armed supporters of Mumbere in the region, government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza said.
Mumbere is king of Uganda’s Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda, according to Bantariza, who said he had seen copies of money printed by the secessionist group, which is hoping to create a republic known as Yiira.
Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.
The western district of Kasese, where Mumbere is based, is a hotbed of opposition to President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.
Some of the rebels had climbed high up the Rwenzori mountains and set up military camps from which they were said to run a small government, even collecting taxes from the people they control. The rebels are armed with modern weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to Bantariza.
“They had shut down life in the areas they occupied,” he said. “We shall beat those who want to cause trouble on our land.”
Museveni, in power since 1986, has struggled to win over the support of the Bakonzo people in presidential elections. There are frequent land disputes in the area, with many accusing the government of sponsoring land grabs.