In Karamoja, in north-east Uganda, the introduction of modern arms into 'traditional' cattle rustling in the past 25 years has produced a step change in the level of violence. Before then, the traditional spear imposed its own limits on the scale and consequences of fighting. It was largely between men, and deaths were relatively rare. With around 160,000 guns now in Karamoja, homesteads are attacked by armed raiders, and women and children are as vulnerable as men. The level of fatalities is of a different order from two generations ago.
Precise figures are difficult to calculate.
424 deaths and injuries from arms were reported in just 3 hospitals between 1998 and 2000, but inter-ethnic cattle raids can leave up to 100 people dead, never officially recorded. The true human cost is far higher. How many of the remaining children have been killed is unknown. People in Kitgum also suffer from raids from the neighbouring Karimojong nomads. 40,757 people were displaced by raids in April and May 2000 just in the counties of Agago and Labwor.