Ugandan President and Commander in Chief (CiC) of the armed forces Gen Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni has sent Lt Gen Apollo Kayanja Muhanga, the Commander of the national army’s Land Forces, to Somalia to assess the situation following an attack on the UPDF ATMIS base where several UPDF soldiers are said to have been killed and others captured alive.
An assessment report by Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga will determine Uganda’s way forward on its mission in the war torn country.
Available official reports on the attack on the UPDF base by Al-Shabaab in Buulo Mareer in Somalia indicate that at 0500hrs on May 26, May 2023, UPDF forces deployed under African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) were attacked by Al-shabaab in Buulo Mareer, 120-Km South West of Mogadishu in Lower Shabelle region.
Both ATMIS and the UPDF have condemned the Al-shabaab terrorist attack on the Ugandan soldiers. Speaking for the UPDF and Ministry of Defence, Brig Gen Felix Kulaigye noted that the deadly attack “will not deter our commitment to ATMIS mandate of ensuring African peace and stability.”
Kulaigye has also revealed that a Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga-led team has been sent to Somalia to conduct an assessment and offer advice on what should be done next.
“A team of UPDF under the leadership of the Commander Land Forces Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga has been dispatched to Somalia to ascertain the circumstances under which the attack happened and devise the way forward,” he said.
The UPDF publicist also emphasized that ATMIS will offer all official communication on the attack. “Meanwhile, all official communications regarding this attack and other operations of our forces in Somalia remains ATMIS mandate. The country is asked to remain calm.”
Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga is a brother to controversial journalist Andrew Mwenda, a man who was once in the news after he was pictured in UPDF uniform in an army helicopter — yet he is not an officer or soldier of the national army. (See Details Here and There).
Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga is a battle-hardened soldier and commander. He has commanded Operation Shujaa in DR Congo and other operations against Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Months ago, Museveni appointed him Commander of UPDF Land Forces, replacing his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. (See Details Here and There).
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