Suspect cattle rustler in UPDF uniform gunned down

Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Joint security forces have shot dead a suspected armed cattle rustler dressed in a Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF uniform in Karenga district. The incident took place in Lokel village, Kapedo Sub County on Sunday when the suspect was found driving five cows believed to have been stolen.

According to Michael Longole, the Mt Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson, the security patrol team encountered the warrior, who was wearing a bed sheet and a shirt resembling a UPDF uniform, around 8:30 pm.  This raised suspicion, leading the security team to identify him as a cattle rustler.

Longole explained that the security forces successfully gunned down the suspect and recovered an SMG rifle with 15 rounds of ammunition. He says that suspected warriors have increasingly resorted to using security uniforms as a form of camouflage during their raiding missions.

’These warriors nowadays are so tactical in a way they do their things, but our intelligence has always beaten them hands down and that is how we are managing them,’’ Longole said. He urged the community to remain vigilant and collaborate in the fight against criminal activities in the region.

In 2022, local leaders in Karamoja called for investigations into the supply of army uniforms to cattle rustlers. The presence of civilians wearing army uniforms in broad daylight raised concerns about how they obtained them. Security forces acknowledged that some suspected cattle rustlers acquired the uniforms by killing or injuring soldiers.

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