Two soldiers dead in clashes with Rwenzururu guards

Two UPDF soldiers, a Rwenzururu royal guard and a boda boda rider died in clashes between the army and royal guards Sunday evening.

The incident happened around the main gate of the Rwenzururu palace along Kijongo road in Kasese Municipality.

By press time it was vague as to who started the attack.

But eyewitnesses said the soldiers were passing by when a royal guard attacked attacked them, forcing the soldiers to shot at him, killing him instantly.

As they heard gunfire outside the gate rang, armed people emerged from inside the palace, shot at the soldiers and finished them off with machetes.

An unidentified boda boda rider, motorcycle UDH 341Z, who was passing by was also killed in the crossfire.

"They were retuning from charging their walkie talkie batteries when they were ambushed by royal guards who shot them and also cut one on the head and another in the back," a soldier who declined to be named, narrated.

"When we heard the gunfire, we rushed in only to find our colleagues dead," he narrated.

The incident comes hardly a day after the NRM Vice chairman in charge of eastern region and the Rwenzururu king held talks aimed at charting a peace and reconciliation plan.

The meeting took place at the Rwenzururu palace where the Rwenzururu king urged government to set up a commission of enquiry into the root causes of the impasse that threatens the Rwenzori sub-region.

Mumbere also urged government to withdraw the current deployments saying there was no war or emergency to warrant the deployments.

The UPDF Second Division spokesperson, Maj. Roland Kakurungu, confirmed that two soldiers had died in the clashes but that the circumstances surrounding their death were being investigated.

Security was tight around the palace following the incident with nobody allowed to use that section of the Kijongo road.

Businesses in town ended earlier than usual as the residents were too scared by the incident, the second one since Thursday when security operatives shot and killed a royal guard who was allegedly trying to attack the operatives who were whisking away a suspect in the recent attack on Kidodo Police post.