Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine was discharged from hospital Wednesday after undergoing surgery for a leg wound suffered during a confrontation with police.

The outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni was injured in the fracas on Tuesday in the town of Bulindo, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the capital Kampala.

Initially, Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) said the 42-year-old, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had been shot in the leg by police and described it as “another attempt on the life” of the party leader.

But the NUP later said Wine had been hit by a tear gas canister and he was taken to a hospital in Kampala.

“He underwent a surgery where the fragments of a canister were removed from his leg and he has stabilised and is on the way out of hospital now,” Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago told AFP.

Images posted on social media showed Wine, wrapped in a cream blanket with a bandage on his leg, being pushed in a wheelchair by hospital staff.

Wine and his NUP have long been a thorn in the side of Museveni, who has ruled Uganda with an iron fist for nearly 40 years.

The former popstar, who challenged the veteran leader in the 2021 election, has been detained or put under house arrest numerous times and party rallies have been violently dispersed.

“It appears police targeted to harm him,” his lawyer George Musisi told AFP about Tuesday’s incident.