Racial tension exploded in Uganda Thursday in a manner reminiscent of Idi Amin.
One man walking down the street was stoned to death by the mob.
Protestors burn a two-wheeler owned by a man of Asian origin along the main Kampala-Entebbe road April 12, 2007. A mob stoned to death an Asian man in Uganda on Thursday and two other people were killed during a protest over a plan to cut down nearly a third of a rainforest reserve to grow sugarcane, police and witnesses said. (Reuters)
Race riots heated up in Uganda Thursday leaving at least 3 dead from the violence. The BBC has this firsthand account:
At first it was very peaceful but when policemen denied the demonstrators access to Kampala Road, they turned rowdy.
Some started chanting songs against Indians asking them to return to their country.
The protest turned into a hunting session for Indian men and women all over the central business district.
The first victim was an Indian man who was innocently walking near the clock tower in Kampala. The irate mob pounced on him and stoned him to death.
When the crowds reached Entebbe Road, they attacked another Indian man riding home on his motor bike.
The man was suspected to be fleeing from the protesters. He was pulled off the motorbike, slapped and beaten severely but luckily policemen rescued him.
His motorbike was however burnt to ashes by the protestors.
The body of an Indian man lies on the ground after he was stoned to death during a demonstration against the plan to clear around 7,000 hectares (75,000 acres) in Mabira Forest Reserve, east of Kampala. (AFP)
Armed police had to rescue more than a 100 men hiding the city center.
Men from Asian origins travel in a Ugandan police bus as they are taken to safety to the Kamala central police station, Thursday, April 12, 2007. A mob stoned to death two people of Asian origin and two other people were killed Thursday as a protest over a prized Ugandan rainforest exploded into racial violence, forcing military police in armored vehicles to fire tear gas into the crowd, authorities said. The protest in the Ugandan capital was aimed at a subsidiary of the Mehta Group, which is run by Ugandans of Indian descent. The company wants to slash part of the Mabira Forest Reserve to expand its sugar plantation. (AP Photo/Wandera w’Ouma)
