The Ugandan military has killed more than 300 cattle thieves

Explosion in Uganda
Uganda Police / Photo EPA-EFE / RONALD KABUUBI

The Ugandan military has killed 309 people in an eight-month operation against a cattle trade in a northeastern region rich in minerals, including gold, limestone and potentially oil, the military has said.

The Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF), the East African country's military, said the deaths were the result of an attempt to quell violence by cattle traders in the Karamoja region since July last year.

"The UPDF, in co-operation with other sister security agencies, will continue to work together to fully calm Karamoja and put an end to all crime in the sub-region," a statement said late Tuesday.

They called the dead "warriors" without giving details.

Populated by nomadic herders, Karamoya has long suffered from robbery, livestock raids, and clan wars fueled by cheap, easily accessible rifles.

Rivalry and competition for pastures and irrigation sites, as well as cattle raids, have traditionally fueled violence between Karamayong's various communities and against pastoral communities across the border in Kenya.

In a tweet Wednesday, the son of President Yoveri Museveni, Muhozi Kainerugaba, commander of the UPDF ground forces, said they had probably killed more people than the number listed by the UDFF in a statement.

"We killed a lot more cattle thieves than last year. "And we will continue to eliminate them until they completely lose their appetite for the industry," Kainerugaba tweeted in response to a local newspaper report on 309 deaths.

The UDFF said 184 guns were found in the operation and 1.700 people were arrested.

In 2020, Uganda began conducting mineral exploration and mapping drills in Karamoya, which are considered to have significant reserves of gold, copper, limestone, oil and other minerals.

However, the recent escalation of violence in the region poses a threat to the exercise, including the killing of a team this month that included a geologist, a student intern, a translator and two soldiers.

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