A total of 19 Ugandans including one soldier were killed by
warriors last month as the government is tackling the rampant
cattle rustling by carrying out a disarmament program in the
northeastern region.
Paddy Ankunda, the north east regional army spokesman, told
Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday that the civilians were killed in
road ambushes and cattle raids in Moroto, Kotido, Kaabong and
Nakapiripirit districts.
"It's unfortunate that last month we lost 18 civilians in
Karamoja killed by armed warriors. "We also lost one of our UPDF
(Uganda People's Defense Force) soldiers that was killed by the
warriors," Ankunda said.
In the northeastern districts, known as Karamoja, the army has
collected 1,258 guns from the Karimojong warriors since last month
as the ongoing disarmament continues.
Ankunda said in the same period, UPDF troops also recovered 370
heads of cattle that the warriors had raided in various parts in
the region.
"We are doing cordon and search operations which are yielding
fruits every day. We are collecting weapons from the warriors every
day," he said, adding that the army is collecting an average of
about 20 guns a day.
Meanwhile an unidentified number of armed pastoralists from
neighboring southern Sudan have crossed into northeastern Uganda,
according to the officer.
He said the army is in touch with the southern Sudan authorities
to see how the pastorlists can be helped go back while warning them
not to attempt carrying out cattle raids because they will be dealt
with by the UPDF.
Warriors in this region have possessed huge amounts of small
arms and light weapons, some of which were used in raiding cattle
in neighboring communities even into neighboring northwestern
Kenya.
Currently, the UPDF is carrying out a disarmament exercise in
which it has collected over 10,000 guns among the estimated over
30,000 illegal weapons in the region since it began in 2001.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)
