Gunshots rang out in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Friday and at least two people were killed as security forces clashed with rioters for a second day.
A Reuters reporter saw the bodies of two young men with bullet wounds, but it was not immediately clear who shot them. At least three people died in clashes a day earlier, although some reports put Thursday’s death toll as high as seven.
Plumes of black smoke from burning tyres rose over the city.
One of the dead men was in his 20s and was shot in the chest. The other was a teenage boy who had been shot in the head and was wrapped in a shawl, surrounded by sobbing relatives.
”This kid was not in the protest. They shot him in a shop,” the boy’s mother told Reuters. She did not give her name. Another witness said the youth was shot by security forces who had entered the suburb in armoured personnel carriers.
This week’s violence has been triggered by a disagreement between police and a senior official from Buganda, one of the east African country’s four ancient kingdoms.
Analysts say the Buganda prime minister, or Katikiro, was barred from visiting Kayunga, a town east of the capital where locals say members of other ethnic groups have taken prime farm land that the kingdom believes is on its historical territory.
The Bugandan king, or Kabaka, who holds a largely cultural and ceremonial role, is expected to travel to Kayunga on Saturday, making it likely that there will be more violence. — Reuters