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Ugandan forces launched a manhunt to recapture more than 200 prisoners who escaped from jail after stealing weapons and fled to a remote wilderness area in the northeast of the country.
At least three people, one soldier and two of the 219 fugitives, were killed in a shootout and two inmates were arrested again, according to Brig. Flavia Byekwaso, an army spokeswoman.
The leak occurred on Wednesday afternoon near the army headquarters in Moroto district in northeastern Uganda.
“They dominated the warden who was on duty,” Byekwaso said.
Before fleeing, they broke into the prison arsenal and stole 15 AK-47 rifles, 20 magazines and other ammunition.
“It’s a massive escape … these were staunch criminals,” he said, adding that they included murderers, thieves and rapists.
The spokeswoman advised the population of the area to “remain calm.”
The UPDF operation continues in search of fugitives from the Singila prison in Moroto to re-arrest them and recover the stolen weapons, for which reason the population is advised to remain calm. pic.twitter.com/eUu6KpH6x9
– Brigadier General Flavia Byekwaso (@UPDFspokespersn) September 16, 2020
The fact that they had some weapons and hours of darkness advantage made the search difficult, Byekwaso said.
The prisoners stripped off their clothing to avoid being seen in their distinctive yellow uniforms and ran toward the foothills of Mount Moroto, a sparsely populated area that the spokeswoman described as “a desert.”
“They have had a whole night to disperse and hide, it complicates our efforts but we will succeed,” added Byekwaso.
It was Uganda’s third prisoner escape since the novel coronavirus outbreak in March amid fears of contracting COVID-19 in crowded jails.
At least three cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Ugandan prisons. The country has confirmed 5,266 infections to date and 60 related deaths.
The total number of inmates in Uganda rose 10 percent to 65,000 in the five months to August, according to the prison service, an increase attributed to large numbers of people detained for violations of various anti-coronavirus measures, such as curfews. and travel restrictions.
Karamoja, a mountainous area on Uganda’s border with Kenya, is also a mineral-rich region where both wild miners and large-scale miners dig for a variety of minerals and metals, including gold.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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