KAMPALA (Reuters) - The Ugandan authorities said on Sunday 41 tribal insurgents and 14 police officers were killed in clashes in the west of the country, and the tribal king of the area near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo was detained.

The police, who announced the death toll on Twitter, said the clashes took place in the Rwenzori region, where there has been unrest since a disputed presidential election in February that was won by veteran leader Yoweri Museveni.

Police said the people it simply described as “attackers” were fighting to create an independent state in the area.

Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda told Reuters that Charles Wesley Mumbere, the king of the Rwenzururu Kingdom who supports the opposition, was detained for questioning.

There are several tribal kings in Uganda who have a largely ceremonial role with some modest regional powers.

The opposition has accused the government of stoking tensions in the region, where the opposition has strong support, with a clamp down on political activity.

“The attackers used IED (improvised explosive devices as) grenades, guns, and spears to attack security personnel,” the police said, adding a police vehicle at a security post was burned during the fighting.

“So far we have arrested 15 key ring leaders,” police said.

According to the Daily Monitor, a leading local daily, a group of security personnel on patrol in Kasese, the biggest town in the region, was attacked by Mumbere’s royal guards on Saturday, sparking a firefight that led to clashes.

It quoted a security official in its report.

Ankunda did not offer details about the clashes, and the police spokesman could not be reached for comment.</s>Police in western Uganda have arrested the king of Rwenzururu over clashes between police and militia which killed at least 55 people, officials say.

Charles Wesley Mumbere is accused of inciting violence after militiamen reportedly attacked a police post in his hometown of Kasese.

Security forces stormed his palace amid claims he was harbouring fighters. The king has denied any involvement.

At least 14 police officers and 41 militants have died in the clashes.

A Ugandan government spokesman accused the militia of seeking to break away from Uganda.

"These militiamen have set up camps in the Rwenzori mountains from where they train and come to attack government installations," Shaban Bantariza said.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said the attackers were fighting to create a new republic on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several other people were also arrested when security forces stormed the king's palace on Sunday, he told the BBC.

A heavy fire fight followed the operation. The king is now in police custody in the capital, Kampala, officials say.

Charles Wesley Mumbere has denied any connections with the militia. His Bakonzo community on the border with the DR Congo has long been at loggerheads with the dominant Toro kingdom in the region.

Years of clashes ended in 1982 with an agreement for more local autonomy and President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009, but tensions have continued to simmer.

Between February and March this year, more than 50 people were killed in clashes between security forces and rebels, according to police figures.</s>Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed at least 55 people.

Heavy fighting broke out in the western town of Kasese on Saturday, when royal guards protecting King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces, police said.

At least 14 police officers and 41 militants had been killed, police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi told Agence France-Presse.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Mr Kaweesi added.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants – not all of them royal guards – armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

After the rebels had killed four police officers, security forces launched an operation to disarm the royal guards and other armed supporters of Mumbere in the region, government spokesman Colonel Shaban Bantariza told The Associated Press.

Mr Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy, based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo – tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule – declared their own kingdom in 1962.

President Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009, however unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict.</s>Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him Sunday after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out Saturday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Kaweesi told AFP.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants — not all of them royal guards — armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people — with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo — tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule — declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

The Banande in DRC and the Bakonzo in Uganda, have the same culture and language and are believed to stem from one people known as the Ba-Yira.

Though Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause, authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

"We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic which wants to break away (from Uganda) and that the royal guards are not involved," Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, Clarence Bwambale told AFP shortly before the king's arrest as heavy shooting echoed in the background.</s>Ugandan traditional king Omusinga wa Rwenzururu Charles Wesley Mumbere was arrested Sunday following fresh clashes in the Rwenzori region

He was reportedly picked up from his Buhikira Royal Palace in Kasese town by the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) in a joint operation with police.

Mr Mubere was later airlifted to Kampala.

His arrest came just hours after police said at least 55 people were killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

"Yesterday a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town... came under attack by Royal Guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Mr Kaweesi.

"That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties. Fighting continued from morning to late evening."

Mr Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of who were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.</s>A Ugandan official has said 19 people have been killed in two days of fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo.

Government spokesman Colonel Shaban Bantariza said Sunday that after rebels had killed four Ugandan police officers and wounded a soldier, Ugandan forces launched an operation in which at least 15 rebel fighters have been killed.

Col. Bantariza said the rebels were believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Wesley Mumbere, who is critical of Uganda’s government.

Mumbere is king of Uganda’s Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda.

The western district of Kasese, where King Mumbere is based, is a hotbed of opposition to former President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.</s>KAMPALA, Uganda — More than four dozen people have been killed in fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo, Ugandan officials said Sunday as security forces battled armed men protecting a tribal king who is accused of leading the rebels.

At least 55 people, including 41 rebels and 14 police officers, have been killed in clashes in Uganda's Rwenzori region, police spokesman Felix Kaweesi told reporters. Four police officials and four soldiers have been wounded, he said.

The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Ugandan security forces and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country's long-time president.

Gunfire rang out outside the king's palace in the western district of Kasese on Sunday as Ugandan troops tried to disarm Mumbere's guards and arrest him. Ugandan security forces overwhelmed the guards, broke into the palace and transferred Mumbere to a police post for questioning.

Capt. Arthur Timbaganya, a spokesman for Ugandan troops in the area, said Mumbere was not under arrest, but had been "rescued" from the palace for his own safety. Timbaganya's account was disputed by the police, who said the king was now in detention.

After the rebels had killed four police officers, security forces launched an operation to disarm the royal guards and other armed supporters of Mumbere in the region, government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza told The Associated Press. Most of the killings happened Friday and Saturday, he said.

Mumbere is king of Uganda's Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda, according to Bantariza, who said he had seen copies of money printed by the secessionist group, which is hoping to create a republic known as Yiira.

Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.

Kasese, where Mumbere is based and part of the mountainous Rwenzori region, is about 340 kilometers west of the Ugandan capital Kampala. The area is a hotbed of opposition to President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.

Some of the rebels had climbed high up the Rwenzori mountains and set up military camps from which they were said to run a small government, even collecting taxes from the people they control. The rebels are armed with modern weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to Bantariza.

"They had shut down life in the areas they occupied," he said. "We shall beat those who want to cause trouble on our land."

Museveni, in power since 1986, has struggled to win over the support of the Bakonzo people in presidential elections. There are frequent land disputes in the area, with many accusing the government of sponsoring land grabs. A new plan to divide up Kasese into two parts has also been fiercely opposed.

In the 1990s, the area was the scene of a violent insurgency by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group that now is based in Congo after being forced out of Uganda.</s>KAMPALA, Uganda -- Scores of people have been killed in fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo, Ugandan officials said Sunday as security forces battled armed men protecting a tribal king who is accused of leading the rebels.

At least 54 people, including 41 rebels and 13 police officers, have been killed in clashes in Uganda's Rwenzori region, police spokesman Felix Kaweesi told reporters. Four police officials and four soldiers have been wounded, he said.

The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Ugandan security forces and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country's long-time president.

Gunfire rang out outside the king's palace Sunday as Ugandan troops tried to break into the premises and disarm his guards.

After the rebels had killed four police officers, security forces launched an operation to disarm the royal guards and other armed supporters of Mumbere in the region, government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza told The Associated Press.

Mumbere is king of Uganda's Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda, according to Bantariza, who said he had seen copies of money printed by the secessionist group, which is hoping to create a republic known as Yiira.

Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.

The western district of Kasese, where Mumbere is based, is a hotbed of opposition to President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.

Some of the rebels had climbed high up the Rwenzori mountains and set up military camps from which they were said to run a small government, even collecting taxes from the people they control. The rebels are armed with modern weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to Bantariza.

"They had shut down life in the areas they occupied," he said. "We shall beat those who want to cause trouble on our land."

Museveni, in power since 1986, has struggled to win over the support of the Bakonzo people in presidential elections. There are frequent land disputes in the area, with many accusing the government of sponsoring land grabs. A new plan to divide up Kasese into two parts has also been fiercely opposed.

In the 1990s, the area was the scene of a violent insurgency by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group that now is based in Congo after being forced out of Uganda.</s>Death toll from the fighting in Kasese District, western Uganda over the weekend has risen to 62, according to police.

Forty six royal guards were killed at the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu Palace in an exchange with joint operation by the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and police.

Rwenzori East police spokesperson Mansur Suwed also said 139 royal guards were arrested and are being detained at the Kasese Police Station.

Several items were recovered at the palace including 16 patrol bombs, 42 knives, three metal detectors, one SMG rifle, and one pistol with two magazines. Others include four radio calls and 47 pangas.

Mr Suwed said 16 officers have died after two officers succumbed to their injuries, having risen from 14.

Brig Peter Elwelu, a UPDF second division commander defending the army's attack on the palace, said King Mumbere had been given an ultimatum of two hours to disband and disarm all royal guards from the palace. He added that Mumbere was told to remain with only nine royal guards but he declined to adhere, forcing the army to launch an offensive on the palace.

He said the operations in the district will continue and the camps belonging to the royal guards will be razed down.

Omusinga Mumbere was detained at Kasese Police Station after which he was airlifted to Kampala. He is now at the Special Investigations Unit awaiting a meeting with President Museveni later Monday.</s>Ugandan policemen guard a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kampala, in February 2016. By Isaac Kasamani (AFP/File)

Kampala (AFP) - The death toll has risen to 62 from weekend clashes in a traditional kingdom in western Uganda, which pitted security forces against royal guards accused of belonging to a separatist militia, police said Monday.

The streets of the western town of Kasese were empty a day after the fighting which ended when police stormed the palace and arrested King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom.

"So far police officers confirmed (the) dead are 16 after two who were in the hospital succumbed to their wounds. The royal guards are 46 (dead) since Saturday," Ugandan police spokesman, Andrew Felix Kaweesi told AFP. The initial death toll given on Sunday was 55.

Fighting broke out on Saturday when police said they were attacked by the royal guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Brigadier Peter Elwelu of the Ugandan army told local television station NTV that the militia has been carrying out sporadic attacks against the government and civilians since 2014.

"We kept on watching this group, we kept on reaching out to them. Things were not working out and we had to take a decision," he said.

Elwelu added that President Yoweri Museveni had phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards.

"We gave him an hour, it elapsed. So the president again called -- gave him two more hours (saying) 'please, sort this out'," said Elwelu.

"So we had no option, after that we had to storm the palace and get these terrorists and that is what we did."

Kaweesi said the king -- who has denied any links to the separatists -- was in custody in Kampala.

A Ugandan journalist who hails from the kingdom and was reporting on the violence, Joy Doreen Biira, was held overnight after being arrested in Kasese, said human rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo.

"Police officers took Joy to the family home in Kasese while they conducted a search to look for photographs and other evidence," said Opiyo.

"Although we (human rights investigators) have been unable to determine exactly what happened yesterday, we are concerned about the excessive loss of life."

Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye shared gruesome images circulating on social media which appeared to show dozens of bodies piled up in front of the palace gates, condemning the "massacre" on Twitter.

The Rwenzururu kingdom, of the Bakonzo tribe, is a modern one.

It began as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo -- tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe given preference under British rule -- declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

However, many in the region still feel marginalised by government and want to create their own state known as the Yiira Republic, uniting the Bakonzo and their sister tribe the Banande who have the same language and culture in neighbouring DRC. Both are believed to stem from one people known as the Ba-Yira.
Fourteen police and 41 militants are killed in clashes in western Uganda, leading to the arrest of tribal Rwenzururu king Charles Mumbere.