The inmates escaped late on Wednesday from a jail in Karamoja, a remote, semi-arid northeastern region, said the spokeswoman, Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso. Before fleeing, they broke into the prison armoury and stole 15 AK-47 rifles, 20 magazines and other ammunition. “It’s a mass escape ... these were hard-core criminals,” she said, adding they included murderers, robbers and rapists. A big security operation was underway to recapture them and two of the inmates had been killed in the pursuit while two were re-arrested, she said. The fact they had some weapons and a head-start of hours of darkness made the search more difficult, Byekwaso said.

Source: The Star September 17, 2020 05:15 UTC