Warriors Ambush UPDF

BY Nathan Etengu in MorotoKarimojong warriors on Saturday shot and seriously injured one UPDF soldier and two LDUs in an ambush near Longorikipi watering point, Bokora county, Moroto district.The soldiers were on patrol in an area where the Karimojong pastoralists had earlier sought protection for their animals against Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel from Katakwi, whom they accused of stealing their cows.Lt. Col. J.M. Mulindwa of the UPDF 3rd Division told The new Vision that the warriors could have either been the Jie Karimojong who were planning to raid the Bokora or the Bokora themselves who wanted to test the might of the UPDF.An intelligence officer at the scene said some warriors escaped with injuries after the UPDF fought back.He said one LDU was shot on the chin and was in critical condition at Matany Hospital.Moroto Resident District Commissioner John Abingwa expressed shock over the ambush. He said the soldiers had been deployed in the area to protect the Karimojong who claimed they had already handed in all their guns to government under the voluntary disarmament exercise.Abingwa said it was his office that convinced the UPDF to deploy the soldiers near the watering point.He said a snap operation had earlier enabled the army to recover five guns that the Karimojong pastoralists had crossed with to the Katakwi side of the border. He said the UPDF on Sunday handed back 18 head of cattle the Karimojong said had been grabbed from them by the LDUs.Ends