At least 2 killed, dozens injured in Uganda riots

[News_Editor]

At least 2 killed, dozens injured in Uganda riots

2011-04-30 07:21:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

KAMPALA, UGANDA (BNO NEWS) -- At least two people were killed and dozens were injured on Friday in riots in Kampala after Uganda's opposition leader was arrested for the fourth time this month.

All Africa news reported that security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters who set fire to tyres. The rioting spread to several suburbs, while demonstrators also set up road blocks around the market area in the centre of the capital.

The Uganda Red Cross said earlier one person was killed and 78 hospitalized, but a new report said another person was also killed. Medical staff rushed to cope with the high number of patients in Kampala's main hospital.

The violence comes one day after Uganda's opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested by police, who smashed his car windows before pushing him into the back of a pick-up truck. He has been arrested before after he lead protests against rising food and fuel prices.

President Museveni says the soaring costs are due to inflation and meteorological and global economic factors. Protesters, however, claim that the government is to blame.

Besigye, who lost to President Yoweri Museveni for the third time in elections held in February, says the elections were rigged. Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, won with 68.38 per cent of 8,272,760 total votes, while Besigye obtained 26% of the votes.

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