NABILATUK, UGANDA: A UPDF officer at the rank of brigade commander Colonel Ezra Byaruhanga has been shot and wounded by cattle rustlers in Nabilatuk district.
Information gathered by this reporter indicates that Col. Byaruhanga was reportedly shot in the leg and arm as they pursued suspected Jie warriors who had raided 8 heads of cattle from Siju village on Thursday night.
The incident was confirmed by the Resident District Commissioner in Nabilatuk, Mr. Milton Odongo confirmed the report in an interview saying that the commander has been airlifted to an unnamed hospital.
Mr. Odongo confirmed that the warriors also shot dead 2 infantry soldiers in the same battle that took place at around 11.00 pm on Thursday.
“In Kotido, warriors also came in contact with ASTU and UPDF soldiers, and one warrior was shot dead. An SMG assault rifle with 4 rounds of ammunitions was recovered,” he said.
Insecurity remains a thorny issue that has thrown communities in Karamoja in fear. In some places in the region, insecurity incidents have forced the residents to enter their houses early.
Paul Lemu, a resident of Nabilatuk town council says communities around the town council have lately been targeted by raiders as there are clashes almost after every three days in their community. He wants the government to address the insecurity soon so that communities can realize development.
“There are raids in our communities every after 3 days,” he said. “You hear they have raided. These cattle are not recovered and that is how we lose. We are insecure.”
Some areas in the region are increasingly considered insecure, and the communities are getting hostile to visitors on suspicion that they are collecting intelligence.
There are also some road sections that the security organs have advised the public to be extra cautious when riding through.
Meanwhile, the security forces are beefing up deployments across the sub-region amid the increasing insecurity situation posed by the raiders. There are motorized patrols on key routes including Moroto-Kotido road, Moroto-Katakwi road as well as in areas of Kotido.
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