3 Soldiers Killed in Border Town of Vurra, UPDF Say Weapons Accounted For

Three Ugandan soldiers have been killed in what is suspected to be an attack by an unknown group at the border with DRC.

The incident is said to have occurred Saturday night in Vurra, a town in Arua district bordering Uganda and DRC.

On Sunday, the UPDF army spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire confirmed the deaths of the three soldiers.

“True there was an incident last night in Vurra and three UPDF soldiers died,” Brig Karemire said.

“All their weapons have been accounted for and are under safe custody. Investigations have started to ascertain the circumstances surrounding their death,” he added.

Asked about media reports that the soldiers were attacked and killed by a mob, Brig Karemire said; “Our people will get to the bottom of what exactly happened”.

In April this year, a new wave of attacks broke out in the northeastern territory of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo between the ethnic communities of the Hema and Lendu.

The clashes forced more than 40,000 Congolese to flee the country to seek refuge in Uganda and some tens of thousands more to travel north towards the town of Mahagi and south towards the province’s capital, Bunia.

Tensions between the Hema and Lendu communities, who have shared the land currently recognised as Ituri, have long existed.

It is unclear whether the incident that killed 3 Ugandan soldiers on Saturday is connected to this conflict or insurgency by another armed group in the largely unstable DRC is responsible.