Three people are battling for their lives at Kaabong general hospital after being hit by stray bullets during clashes between the army and suspected cattle rustlers on Monday morning.
They are Achia John Bosco, 25, Ngelecha Isaac,30, and Apollo Achoro,25.
Major Isaac Oware, the UPDF 3rd spokesperson, says the trio was injured by stray bullets in their ongoing operations to get rid of illegal firearms from Lolutakepel village, Kamachariko parish, Karhile sub-county in Kaabong district. Initially, there were reports that the UPDF had killed three people but Major Oware dismissed the claims.
“No civilian was shot dead as it’s being alleged, it was only three civilians who got injured by stray bullets during the operations,” he said.
According to Major Oware, 134 suspects have so far been arrested. He says that they identified 25 prime suspects during the screening exercise.
Lt Col. Gaston Mugarura, the commanding officer in the operation, said their operation is aimed at ending gun crime and deterring counter raids among the Dodoth of Kaabong and Jie of Kotido.
“Our forces broke through the armed cattle rustlers’ cells where one profiled warrior was put out of action and an SMG number 5477 with 17 live ammunition recovered,” he said.
He called upon the community not to panic, saying the forces are only interested in criminals. Lokoru Moding, a resident of Komachariko village appealed to the forces to observe human rights, saying terrorizing everyone including those attending to their gardens will not help to bring peace.
“When you go and round up everybody including those in the gardens doesn’t make sense, “he said.