At least 16 people were killed in protests over the arrests. One of the detained presidential candidates, the popular musician-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine, was accused of breaking coronavirus restrictions at campaign rallies.

The national police in Uganda said Thursday that at least 16 people had been killed and hundreds arrested in protests that erupted across the country after two presidential candidates were arrested while campaigning ahead of a highly anticipated January election.

The violence began Wednesday as word of the arrests spread in the East African nation, where President Yoweri Museveni is vying for a record sixth term in office.

A deputy police spokesman, Patrick Onyango, said in a statement broadcast on a Ugandan news station on Thursday that the death toll stood at 16, more than double the figure late Wednesday, and that rioting was continuing around the capital Kampala and elsewhere in the country. At least 300 people were arrested, the police said.

The unrest in Uganda echoes recent election-related violence in other African countries, including Guinea, Tanzania and Ivory Coast, where opposition figures accused entrenched leaders of having manipulated the rules and rigged the polls in order to extend their stay in power.