Kampala - The Ugandan military said Saturday that more than 30 fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had surrendered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ugandan and Congolese military joined forces last year to battle the rebels in eastern DR Congo, where they fled several years ago after a decades-long rebellion in Uganda.

Kampala  - Sixteen people were feared dead in central Uganda Friday following a collision between a truck and commuter minibus, police said.

The driver of a truck carrying cement lost control outside of the capital Kampala, knocking the minibus off the road and crushing it late Thursday.

Rescue efforts were continuing Friday morning, with workers digging through hundreds of cement bags to get to minibus.

Road accidents caused by speeding, overloading and the poor condition of vehicles claims hundreds of lives in Uganda each year.  (dpa)

Kampala  - A German national has been arrested in Uganda on suspicion of possessing and trafficking marijuana, police said Saturday.

The 47-year-old man, who runs a holiday camping site on an island near the western shores of Lake Victoria, was arrested on Thursday.

Police suspect he was supplying marijuana seeds to fishermen, the southern region police spokesman, Noah Sserunjogi, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Kampala - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday dismissed threats by Somali insurgents to attack his country, which provides troops to the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.

"We know how to attack those who attack us," he told reporters at the end of an AU summit in Kampala. "They should concentrate on solving their problems instead of thinking of attacking Uganda."

Kampala - Ritual sacrifices have claimed the lives of 23 people in Uganda, mostly children and juveniles, since the beginning of the year, a police report said Thursday.

Child sacrifice is on the rise in the East African nation, where witch doctors kill children and infants and use their body parts in rituals aimed at bringing wealth to those who seek it.

"The 23 who were confirmed dead were killed in circumstances related to child sacrifice," police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba told reporters.

Kampala  - Ugandan authorities have detained Somalia's state minister for defence on suspicion of being involved in terror attacks in insurgency-hit Somalia, a Ugandan army official said Wednesday.

Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a former insurgent who earlier this year defected to Somalia's embattled Western-backed government, was arrested in Kampala Tuesday after leaving a mosque.

"We got intelligence reports that he had sneaked into the country," Ugandan army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye told the German Press Agency dpa.

"He was an insurgent about three months ago. We have international conferences here and we had to be vigilant because he is a suspected terrorist."

Kampala  - An international human rights body is urging the Ugandan government to investigate the killings of civilians by security forces during the anti-government riots of recent weeks.

Human Rights Watch Friday accused the Ugandan government of using excessive force and of directly shooting dead 13 of the 27 civilians who were killed during the violent September 10-11 demonstrations.

More than 80 others were injured and police arrested nearly 900 people during and after the riots.

Kampala  - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday held talks with a tribal king nearly three weeks after the king's supporters rioted, leaving 27 dead and scores injured.

Museveni met Kabaka (king) Ronald Muwenda Mutebi at the presidential palace in the lake-side town of Entebbe. The talks were "fruitful," a brief statement from the monarchy said.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Kampala and other towns on September 10 to protest a government decision to block King Mutebi from visiting one of his counties to the north-east.

Kampala  - The death toll from last week's riots in Uganda has risen to 21 with seven more people dying from bullet wounds over the weekend, a Ugandan government newspaper reported Monday.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Kampala on Thursday to protest a government move to block the visit of the king of the Baganda, the country's largest ethnic group, from visiting one of his territories north-east of the city.

Kampala - Seven people have been killed and dozens wounded in rioting in the Ugandan capital Kampala after security forces fired live bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, reports said Friday.

Thousands of people took to the streets Thursday to protest against an apparent move to block the king of the Baganda tribe, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, from visiting a town north-east of Kampala.

Kampala  - At least two people were shot dead and an unknown number injured in the Ugandan capital Kampala Thursday when security forces fired live bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, local media reports said.

Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against an apparent move to block the king of the Baganda tribe, Ronald Muwenda Muteb, from visiting a town north-east of Kampala.

People began burning tires, blocking roads in the business district and throwing stones and bottles at police and military personnel.

Kampala  - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was committed to boosting economic growth in Africa as he wound up a five-nation African tour in Uganda on Thursday.

Lieberman, who also visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Angola and Nigeria, met Ugandan ministers and witnessed the signing of a water development agreement between an Israeli firm and Uganda's water minister.

Kampala  - The Ugandan army has captured a top official from the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Central African Republic, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Uganda recently extended its operations against the LRA - which fought a decades-long rebellion in northern Uganda - to the CAR.

Captured LRA officer Mickman Opuk, believed to be a brigadier, is a "highly placed" LRA commander and a close confidant of elusive rebel leader Joseph Kony, military spokesman lieutenant colonel Felix Kulayigye told the German Press Agency dpa.

Kampala - The Ugandan army has extended its operations against rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to the Central African Republic, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

Uganda was already battling the rebels, who have refused to sign a final peace deal to bring an official end to their decades-long rebellion, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kampala  - Uganda's recently discovered oil reserves now stand at two billion barrels but may exceed six billion barrels as exploration continues, a government newspaper reported Friday.

International firms have invested millions of dollars in the East African country, where they began exploration activities in the western and north-western region early this decade.

Kampala  - The African Union's Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday urged the continent to draft laws making torture a criminal offence.

Catherine Dupe Atoki told reporters during her two-day visit to Uganda that only five African countries have criminalized torture, which she said was rampant on the continent.

"The majority of countries on the continent have not made torture a criminal offense," she said. "Torture is a problem on the continent and should not be used as a deterrent."

Kampala  - Armed Congolese have abducted eight Ugandans from a disputed island on Lake Albert, a government newspaper reported Monday.

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been clashing for several years over ownership of the tiny island, which is in a region to Uganda's north-west where oil has been discovered.

A British geologist working for an oil company was in 2007 shot dead on the island by Congolese who claimed he had strayed onto their territory.

Kampala - Ugandan police on Tuesday fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting President Yoweri Museveni's decision to re-appoint the country's election body, which has been accused of rigging previous elections.

Museveni reluctantly allowed multi-party democracy to be revived in the East African country during the mid 1990s, but opposition parties and human rights groups say the former guerilla leader uses the election body to stay in power.

Kampala - Ugandan police have deployed heavily in a district in Uganda's oil-rich north-western region after arson attacks against tribal immigrants, a senior police official said Thursday.

"Immigrants are being targeted and there have been several cases of arson against them," police spokesman Judith Nabakooba told the German Press Agency dpa.

Kampala  - Rosemary Bagagga, a penniless AIDS sufferer, is five months pregnant, but what worries her most is that she may not be able to get the drugs she needs to keep her alive.

Two months ago, nurses at a clinic just outside the Ugandan capital Kampala told the 32-year-old mother-of-three and dozens of others that antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) at the health facility had run out.