Rebel Forces Capture No. 2 City in Uganda

NAIROBI, Kenya — Rebel forces tightened their grip on Uganda today by capturing Jinja, the nation’s second-largest city, from government troops who fled in disarray or switched allegiance to the National Resistance Army, Western diplomats said.

The diplomats said up to 7,000 government soldiers had earlier been regrouping for a possible counterattack from Jinja, the site of Owen Falls Dam, the only source of electricity for western Uganda, including the capital, Kampala.

“The NRA sort of took Jinja by default,” one Western diplomat said. “There appear to have been mass defections. There was almost no firing at all. It seems most of the troops switched sides. Those that did not want to switch dispersed.

“It was ‘Hey, presto, the NRA is in charge,’ ” said the diplomat, who reported that the city was quiet with NRA patrols on the streets.

Bodies in the Streets

The NRA rebels, who have promised to form a democratic government, captured Kampala in bloody weekend fighting that left the streets littered with bodies.

They also seized its sister city, Entebbe, from troops loyal to head of state Gen. Tito Okello, who himself took power in a coup six months ago.

In Kampala, shops and businesses reopened today, and life began returning to normal under a new government headed by NRA guerrilla leader Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni has pledged to form a broad-based democratic government and punish former junta officials for crimes against the people. (Story on Page 6.)