Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda’s government sent more land forces to Somalia to ascertain the circumstances under which its army base was attacked by al-Shabaab militants.
Ugandan soldiers deployed under the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) came under attack on 26 Friday dawn at Buulo Mareer, a base in Lower Shabelle, killing at least 50 soldiers, with more feared dead.
The al-Shabaab sent several posts on Telegram showing captured Ugandan soldiers and a runover base in Buulo Mareer.
The Ministry of Defense and Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson Brig Felix Kulaigye issued a statement saying that the latest deployment is under the leadership of Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga, the commander of Land Forces. Adding that the land forces team will devise the way forward and that the country will not deter their commitment to Atmis mandate of ensuring African peace and stability.
Uganda is one of the troop-contributing countries to the ATMIS battling terrorists in Somalia. Others are Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
The attack
According to eyewitnesses including a local official and a security commander who requested anonymity, because they are not authorized to speak to the media, the Somali militant group Al Shabaab overran Buulo Mareer Forward Operating Base (FOB) in coordinated attacks using car-laden explosives and gunfire and carried out a massacre of Ugandan troops.
The militant attackers reportedly detonated four to six explosions, including improvised bombs in vehicles driven by suicide bombers.
According to the sources, the militants penetrated the perimeters of the base after the explosions, which were followed by a fierce firefight. The militants were also seen inside the town. The base is just outside town.
The situation of a second base manned by Somali forces not far from the African Union (AU) base that al-Shabaab claims to have attacked is unclear.
Since 2007 the UPDF were deployed to conduct peace support operations in Somalia and they have been operating successfully. The forces have not suffered such a heavy casualty, which sources said included senior commanders.
The May 26th attack comes as the Somali government prepares the second phase of military operations against al-Shabaab. The first phase, launched in August, drove al-Shabaab from vast territories in central Somalia.
Museveni blamed his army
The President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta’s statement released on Twitter said the attackers were about 800, according to data captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones.
President Museveni questioned the response of the forces at the base and the failure of both human and technology intelligence to detect the attackers.
He added that the size of a military company is anywhere between a few dozen and 200 soldiers. Those defenses are quite strong, although they are guarded by light weapons.
According to President Museveni’s statement, there were two tanks, two 14.5mm anti- air-craft guns, and a 107mm Katyusha rocket launcher.
He elaborated that during the attack some of the soldiers did not perform as expected and panicked, which led to disorganization and the al-Shabaab took advantage of that to overrun the base and destroy some of the equipment.
Due to him, the UPDF panic was totally unnecessary due to the fact that both the anti-tank ditch and the Ugandan troops had destroyed three vehicles of explosives outside the Forward Operating Base (FOB). The suicide bombers or whatever were forced to blow themselves up before they gained entry into the base.
Besides that UAVs were watching the whole incident from up in the sky and directing fire.
The FOB is manned by troops from the UPDF’s Uganda Battle Group (Ugabab)38. Which deployed in Somalia this year in April to start its tour of duty under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis).
The statement also revealed that when the attack started, many of the soldiers withdrew to the next FOB, nine kilometers away, because the Al Shabaab outnumbered the soldiers at the Buulo Mareer base. That happened because the militants were many, about 800 or so according to the UAVs.
Mr. Museveni warned the Al-Shabab militants that the operations are continuing and that they will regret their actions. The European Union (EU) also said that the attack against Ugandan soldiers only reinforces its commitment to stand with the region and to hold to account those responsible for these continuously heinous assaults against Somali citizens and those seeking to stabilize the situation in the country.
15 years ago Uganda became part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which ensured Somalia was liberated from Al Shabaab Islamic insurgents. Uganda was the first country to send troops to Somalia and this opened the way for other African countries to also deploy in the mission which was at one time dubbed as “dead on arrival” until UPDF’s arrival.
After UPDF’s deployment in Somalia, other countries including Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia later deployed troops.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
