Security has been intensified along the Fort Portal–Bundibugyo highway after an attack by unidentified assailants in the area. A large number of UPDF soldiers and police officers have been deployed, especially around Ibonde Trading Center in Fort Portal City’s North Division.

All vehicles entering Fort Portal from the Bundibugyo and Ntoroko districts are being thoroughly inspected by security personnel. This increased deployment follows a Saturday morning raid in which six suspected attackers were killed in the Ibonde and Karago Wards.

Residents reported that the assailants estimated to be about 40 came from the Bundibugyo direction, carrying machetes and bags. They were allegedly heading toward Canon Apollo Core PTC when locals sounded an alarm.

Before the security forces arrived, residents managed to kill two of the attackers in Ibonde. UPDF troops later shot dead four others near Canon Apollo Core PTC. According to Rogers Asiimwe, a local resident, fear has gripped the community. “We don’t know their motive or how many of them are still hiding around. Everyone is scared,” Asiimwe said.

Two additional suspects were captured at Ibonde Trading Center, while others are believed to have escaped toward Kasese and Bundibugyo districts. By press time, neither the police nor the UPDF had issued an official statement about the incident.

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