Tanzanian police seize firearms in fight with bandits

Police in Kagera and Geita regions on the shores of Tanzania's Lake Victoria have seized firearms and combat uniforms for Burundi army, which were used by bandits for robbing passengers travelling in buses, police said on Saturday.

Henry Mwaibambe, Kagera regional police commander, said police exchanged fire with unknown number of bandits in Nyantakara forest who ran away after being overpowered.

The bandits ran away and left behind four sub-machine guns, 129 rounds of ammunition and combat uniforms for the Burundian army, Mwaibambe told a news conference.

He said members of the public had tipped off the police that the bandits were making final preparations to intercept motor vehicles, including buses, travelling along the Nyakanazi-Runzewe- Dar es Salaam highway and rob passengers.

"When police raided the bandits' hideout in the forest, the gangsters started to retaliate with fire. The fire exchange lasted for 10 minutes before the bandits ran away," said Mwaibambe.

He said police have launched a manhunt for the bandits who were suspected to be Burundians.

In September 2014, Tanzanian police shot dead five heavily armed bandits suspected to be Burundians in the country's Lake Tanganyika shore region of Kigoma after a fierce exchange of fire.

Tanzania's western border region of Kigoma, which has for a long time been host to refugees fleeing civil strife from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, has frequently witnessed a tidal wave of armed robberies reportedly from unruly refugees. Endi