By Tolit Ivan
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has announced its encouraging former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) combatants living with retained bullet fragments to seek free surgical treatment at the UPDF hospital in Gulu.
There are estimated thousands of people within the region who are believed to still be living with bullets and bomb splinters in their bodies as a result of the war.
The development follows a request by Simon Opige, the Chairperson of the Greater North Association of former LRA Soldiers and Victims to the government to provide treatment to their members still having bullet fragments in their bodies.
In response Major General Felix Busizoori, the UPDF Fourth Division Commander, asked the leaders of the former LRA soldiers and Victims to profile all their members having bullet fragments in their bodies and submit to his office so that they are assisted at the UPDF hospital in Gulu free of charge.
According to experts, Ex-LRA fighters and victims living with bullet fragments or shrapnel in their bodies face significant long-term physical, psychological, and social challenges, including chronic pain, potential lead poisoning, psychological trauma, and a lack of adequate support for medical care.
