KAMPALA, UGANDA: Uganda's prime minister says the country's interior minister died suddenly while traveling home from official duty in South Korea.

Ruhakana Rugunda said in a statement Saturday that Gen. Aronda Nyakairima died while transiting through Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The statement said the cause of death is not yet known and that a team of pathologists had been dispatched to Dubai to assist with the postmortem examination and repatriation of the body.

Nyakairima, who was 56, served as interior minister since 2013. He had previously been the top commander of Uganda's military, and was credited with helping to push infamous warlord Joseph Kony from Ugandan territory.