The Senior Presidential adviser on special operations Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba spent five days in Mogadishu, Somalia where he visited UPDF soldiers following the Buulo Mareer attack by Al-Shabaab terrorists. According to the information from his office, Gen. Kainerugaba visited the injured soldiers who are recovering in different hospitals in Mogadishu.
Gen. Kainerugaba was also briefed on the circumstances under which the attack on the UPDF base happened.
Before concluding his visit, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba met the President of Somalia HE Hassan Mohamud and delivered a message from President Museveni.
President Yoweri Museveni recently revealed that the UPDF lost 54 soldiers in an attack late last month by Al-Shabaab militants. The Commander In Chief was speaking at a retreat for NRM leaders at National Leadership Training Institute (NALI) at Kyankwanzi.
The 54 dead included the base commander Lt Col Edward Nyororo.
President Museveni said despite the deaths, the UPDF managed to successfully recapture the Buulo Mareer Base from the Al-Shabaab. He said two UPDF officers have been arrested in relation to this attack.
“Our soldiers demonstrated remarkable resilience and reorganized themselves, resulting in the recapture of the base. We discovered the lifeless bodies of fifty-four fallen soldiers, including a Commander,” he said.
“These terrorists attempted another ill-fated attack on Baraawe Town, but our forces dealt a significant blow, forcing them to flee. The mistake was made by two commanders, Maj. Oluka and Maj. Obbo, who ordered the soldiers to retreat. They have been apprehended and will face charges in the Court Martial.”
The UPDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Felix Kulaigye reported that some of the Ugandan soldiers hid for six days before being rescued after al-Shabaab militants overran their base
Kulaigye said the four soldiers, including a lieutenant, survived by hiding within and around the base in the town of Buulo Mareer, 110 kilometers south of Mogadishu.
He said the troops were found after the Ugandan contingent retook the base on Thursday.
“When we recovered, they were weak because they were only surviving on urine,” Kulaigye said.
He said each of the soldiers was hiding alone, in separate locations.
“They were weak out of hunger,” he said.
Uganda sent a team led by land forces commander Lieutenant General Kayanja Muhanga to Somalia to investigate the attack.
Museveni singled out two commanders for making a “mistake” by ordering the soldiers to retreat.
“They have been apprehended and will face charges in the Court Martial,” Museveni said.
The Al-Shabaab militant group on Monday published a video purportedly from the raid on the UPDF base. In the video, the leader of Al-Shabaab, Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah, whose face is blurred, sends off the attackers.