Uganda admits security forces killed over 100 people in palace raid in November

Uganda has acknowledged that its security forces killed more than 100 people in an assault on a tribal leader’s palace last year.

The revelation comes after Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called for an independent and impartial fact-finding mission with international expertise saying that it was one of the bloodiest day of the region’s cultural institution.

According to the rights group, the clashes left over 150 people dead including 15 children.

It also raised concern regarding security forces’ use of lethal force during law enforcement operations in the region.

Fierce clashes broke out in November between security forces and a separatist militia in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces.

But even as the government admitted the killings, it on the other hand dismissed the report by the rights group saying that 103 people were killed and 180 arrests were made including King Mumbere.

The region of Kasese has been the hotbed of opposition to the Ugandan government for decades. The people say they have long been marginalized by the government.