Seven killed as Ugandans, South Sudanese clash at border

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed in a string of clashes either side of Uganda and South Sudan's border, a remote area plagued by cattle rustling and conflicts over territory, Uganda's military said.

The fighting started on Thursday when South Sudanese gunmen detained Ugandan local government officials carrying out a census, accusing them of straying into South Sudanese territory, said Uganda's military spokesman Paddy Ankunda.

That triggered demonstrations in the Ugandan border town of Moyo, where Ugandans razed houses belonging to South Sudanese residents, Ankunda said.

That, in turn, led to a series of tit-for-tat attacks.

"I am informed last evening Ugandan youth entered South Sudan and killed a South Sudanese woman. In retaliation, South Sudanese militants entered Uganda and killed five people at around midnight," Ankunda told Reuters.

A local government official in Moyo, Jimmy Vukoni, told Reuters by telephone that he had received reports that South Sudanese youths on Friday also crossed into Uganda and stole cattle, burnt houses and raped women.

Ankunda said five Ugandans were killed in the skirmishes and both Ugandan and South Sudan security officials were trying defuse the fighting.

A South Sudanese county commissioner near the area where the fighting occurred, Henry Sabuni, said two people from his country also died.

Uganda sent troops into South Sudan late December in support of the government of President Salva Kiir against insurgent forces led by his sacked deputy Riek Machar.

(Additional reporting by Denis Dumo in Juba; Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Heavens)

• Unrest, Conflicts & War
• Politics & Government
• South Sudan
• Uganda