Al-Shabaab attack: Gen Katumba rushes to Somalia
Chief of Defence Forces Katumba Wamala addresses the UPDF soldiers early this year. PHOTO BY DOMINIC BUKENYA
Kampala- The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, yesterday flew to Mogadishu to meet UPDF commanders, a day after Somali insurgents attacked a Ugandan army base, killing unspecified number of soldiers.
Lt Gen Charles Angina, his deputy, said Gen Katumba arrived in Mogadishu yesterday morning. “He (is there) to assess the security situation and will be coming back as soon as possible,” Lt Gen Angina said.
The Ministry of Defence and the African Union were still tightlipped on the number of soldiers killed, but various reports in international media give different death figures.
Quoting Western sources, CNN yesterday reported that 45 soldiers, including Somalis, were killed in fighting to repulse the attackers on Tuesday morning.
The insurgents claimed on Tuesday they had killed at least 50 soldiers in Janaale, the area under Uganda Battle Group 14.
Lt Gen Angina said they were still working with African Union Mission in Somalia before they release the number of the dead and their identities.
The deputy army spokesperson, Maj Henry Obbo, described both the figures as propaganda by al-Shabaab.
Propaganda
“That’s al-Shabaab’s method of work. They exaggerate figures in the battlefield to create a false situation. They are just doing propaganda,” Maj Obbo said.
Military sources in Kampala say nine were killed and five injured.
Sources in Somalia say the attackers could be part of the jihadists fleeing Ethiopian troops in Gedo region and are now moving towards areas controlled by Ugandan forces in the south of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab has stepped up hit-and-run raids as a tactic to fight Amisom.
