Uganda: 60 Killed as Ugandan Forces Clash With Armed Tribal Militias

By Staff Writer

Over 60 people have been killed by police and Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) as they battled an allegedly armed Bakonzo that attacked their facilities Sunday July 6.

The fighting erupted near the western border with Congo as troops fought to repell a series of attacks by gunmen in what security officials said was an unsuccessful uprising by tribal militias know as Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu from Demodratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the oil-rich region.

According to army spokesperson Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda the militias were armed with spears, guns and machetes assaulted army and police bases starting Saturday  July 5 in the three border districts of Kasese, Bundibugyo and Ntoroko, Basongola communities.

The attackers killed at least 12 people, including three policemen and stole atleast 9 guns and grenade launchers from the army. According to police, the fighting continues to rage.

“In Kanyamwirima village, one UPDF soldier was killed and 42 of the attackers were also killed. Now, about 54 attackers have been killed and 40 arrested,” the UPDF’s Rwenzori region spokesperson Lt Ninsiima Rwemijuma said.

Police spokesman, Mr Fred Enanga, said Sunday 11 civilians were killed in Kasese District alone.

The attacks came hours after the army announced that it had killed an individual who was suspected of being involved in attacking a church two weeks ago. The Muslim attackers decapitated a woman and put her head on the altar.

The attacks marked an escalation of long-standing tribal tension over land rights in the region, where international oil companies are in the process of developing vast oil fields, believed to contain as much as 3.5 billion barrels of crude.

"We have neutralized the tribal gunmen; the situation is now calm," Lt. Col. Ankunda said. "We are investigating why they are attacking government forces."

The militias attacked installations to retaliate government's "unsatisfactory" handling of land disputes, said Angelo Izama, a researcher at Ugandan-based think tank Fanaka Kwawote, which focuses on the area.

Tribal leaders of Rwenzururu, a group based in Kasese district that has fought for disputed land claims, couldn't be reached for comment.

Tension over farmlands has been building in the region in recent years, pitting tribes in the Lake Albert rift basin against each other. Conflicts over land have been on the rise since exploration companies discovered oil reserves in the region eight years ago.

The attackers launched the first assault on a police post in Bundibugyo, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Congolese border on Saturday.

A few hours later, the militias launched coordinated attacks at several other police stations, police spokesman Fred Enanga said. But it was the assault on the army base that escalated into the heaviest combat, leaving dozens of attackers dead.

By Sunday, security officials had arrested about 20 attackers. The army has sent more reinforcements to the region.

Uganda's oil region borders lawless eastern Congo, which is home to dozens of armed groups. The groups have fought over arms and claims to gold, tantalum, coltan and tin.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo and asset freeze on Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the many armed groups with rear bases in eastern Congo.

The ADF last attacked Ugandan's oil region in 2007 but were repulsed. In 2010, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni put the security of the oil region under the elite Special Forces Command, headed by his son, Muhoozi Keinerugaba.

However, military and police officials have denied that the attackers are affiliated with Islamist rebel groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The ADF reportedly has ties with Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab rebels.

In the recent years, the East African region have been hit by a wave of insecurity due to increased activities of militia insurgents involved in spreading terror, killings, kidnappings and extortion. The increased attacks on the governments and people of Uganda and Kenya have destabilized the economy, as investors’ fear of losing their businesses to terrorism.