At least eight people have been killed in a shootout inside the Makindye Military Police barracks just outside the Kampala central business district.

The barracks, which house the elite disciplinary unit of the army, has been sealed off.

Confirming the incident Thursday afternoon, Uganda People’s Defence Forces spokesman Col Paddy Ankunda said most of the dead are civilians - children and women believed to be wives of the soldiers in the barracks.

The motive of the shooting spree is still unknown.

Col Ankunda said on Twitter, "Sad moment Sgt Obua Isaac of military police Makindye has just gone bonkers killed seven people. All of the killed are women and children, one child injured. Sgt Obua Isaac, the killer, has been put out of action".

The incident, though not the first rampage killing spree by a soldier, has happened amid heightened security tensions in the country following mass arrests of soldiers and politicians allegedly involved in subversive activity.

At least 30 soldiers were arrested about two weeks ago in the Kyengera suburb over alleged treasonable acts. The commandant of the Entebbe air base garrison, Captain Dan Opito Odwee, was also arrested last week for allegedly plotting a coup and other treasonable acts.

READ: Thirty held in Uganda over 'coup plot'

ALSO READ: Soldiers, MP held over rebel links

Captain Odwee’s arrest followed close on the heels of the capture of opposition politician Michael Kabaziguruka, an MP for Nakawa Division in Kampala, was taken into custody on June 8, released briefly and re-arrested again on among other charges a plot to assassinate President Museveni.

READ: Uganda police arrest MP over alleged plot to kill President Museveni

Another politician, Dan Oola Odya was also arrested on June 8 in Gulu on similar charges.

On Sunday, a shootout at the Gulu Central Police Station left a policeman and a soldier dead in what authorities claim was a thwarted attempt by Mr Oola’s supporters to rescue him from the police cells where he was being held. Mr Oola has since been charged with treason offences.