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Official: 19 Killed In Uganda Fighting Between Army, Secessionist Rebels

by Associated Press

   KAMPALA, UGANDA --

   Two days of fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a
   remote district near the border with Congo have left at least 19 people
   dead, a Ugandan government official said Sunday.
   After the rebels killed four Ugandan police officers and wounded a
   soldier, Ugandan forces launched an operation in which at least 15
   rebel fighters have been killed, government spokesman Col. Shaban
   Bantariza 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, Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country's long-time
   president.
   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.
   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.

   FILE - President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni speaks during the
   71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 20, 2016, at
   U.N. headquarters.

   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."