At least 12 cattle rustlers were killed and 18 others injured in a gunfire exchange with Ugandan security forces in the northeastern district of Kaabong.
Chris Lochoto, a local district leader told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday that the killings were on Monday morning.
“It is true rustlers were killed on Monday morning and some guns recovered from them,” Lochoto said.
“Even last night some bulls were stolen in another raid by the rustlers suspected to have come from Kenya,” he added.
Lochoto said since the district is bordering South Sudan in the north and Kenya in the east, external raids happen.
“Actually among the dead rustlers, we suspect some were Turkanas from Kenya. We need security forces to deploy more men to protect our people’s animals,” he said.
Earlier, the spokesperson of the Criminal Investigation Department of Police tweeted that some animals had been recovered in the joint operation.
“The joint security team in Karamoja sub-region has recovered 290 cows out of the 350 that were stolen by cattle raiders,” Twine said.
“In the process of the operation, 12 raiders were put out of action, 18 arrested and 7 sub-machine-guns recovered from them. The arrested will be charged in court,” he added.
In December 2020, the Ugandan military killed eight armed cattle rustlers, lost a soldier and two others were injured in a foiled cattle raid in the northeastern district of Napak.
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