UPDF soldiers panicked when Al-Shabaab struck, says Museveni

President Museveni has vowed to retaliate against Al-Shabaab terrorists for the deadly attack on Ugandan troops in Somalia.

In a late Saturday evening statement, Gen (rtd) Museveni said during the Friday morning attack on UPDF soldiers serving under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in the area of Bulo-Mareer which he described unfortunate incident, “some of the soldiers did not perform as expected and panicked, which disorganized them.” 

“Those defences are quite strong although they are guarded by light weapons.  There were two tanks, two 14.5mm anti- aircraft guns and a 107mm Katyusha rocket launcher. Some of the soldiers there did not perform as expected and panicked, which disorganized them and the Al-Shabaab took advantage of that to overrun the base and destroy some of the equipment. The panic, it seems, was totally unnecessary because, in fact, both the anti-tank ditch and our soldiers had destroyed the three vehicles of explosives outside the Forward Operational Base (FOB). The suicide bombers or whatever, were forced to blow themselves up before they gained entry into the base,” Mr Museveni said.
According to the president, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi has set up a Board of Inquiry (BOI) and the full facts will come out, including the details of the casualties. 

“Many of the soldiers withdrew to the next FOB, nine kilometres away. The terrorists were many, about 800 or so according to the UAVs. Hence, it was a missed opportunity, to annihilate them. The operations are continuing, and they will regret their actions. Condolences to the country and the families of those who died,” Mr Museveni added.

According to him, the attack should be used to remind all those concerned that operations in Somalia and other theatres, are combat missions and not welfare missions where you can access UN allowances. 
“It is criminal for anybody involved to send into such a theatre soldier who are either not suited for that mission or not properly prepared for it. Details will come out after the BOI has finished its work,” Gen Museveni added.

UPDF said Saturday that they had sent a team led by the Chief of Land Forces, Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga, to Mogadishu, Somalia, to ascertain the circumstances under which the country’s troops were attacked on a dawn raid on Friday.

Lt-Gen Muhanga, a veteran of the many operations, including Somali combat fields battling the Al-Shabaab, currently holds the third highest ranking office in Uganda’s military, and the 5,000 UPDF troops deployed in Somalia fall under his command.