KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan security forces have killed a self-styled traditional herbalist accused of leading coordinated weekend attacks on police and military installations in the country’s volatile western region bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Authorities said the man, identified as Christian Asuman Muganzi, was shot dead on Tuesday along with more than 20 of his followers during a military operation in Kakuka, Bundibugyo District.
“He was using his shrine to indoctrinate and recruit people to join his criminal group,” said Albert Kaliruga, deputy regional security head. “At the site, we recovered traditional herbs, charms and other fetishes he claimed could protect his fighters during battles.”
The government said Muganzi’s group had launched deadly assaults on Saturday against police and army posts in Bundibugyo, Kasese, and Fort Portal districts.
The attackers, armed with submachine guns and machetes, killed one soldier and a civilian before being repelled.
An army officer told AFP the group was attempting to “acquire weapons to start a tribal militia” before being overpowered by the joint security operation.
Fifteen suspected fighters were captured and are being held for interrogation.
Uganda’s western frontier with the DRC has long been a security flashpoint, home to several armed groups and smuggling networks.
Authorities have in recent years intensified patrols in the area to counter possible incursions by militant groups, including affiliates of the Islamic State operating inside eastern Congo.
Uganda has also endured a violent past marked by cult-like insurgencies, most notoriously the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony in the 1990s and 2000s.
