President Museveni has broken his silence about the deadly Al-Shabab
attack on the UPDF base in Somalia, saying the soldiers panicked.
“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,” said Museveni on Saturday night.
An unknown number of UPDF soldiers were killed when the Al Shabaaday carried out a pre-dawn attack on the Ugandan military’s Forward Operating Base in Buulo-Mareer, Lower Shabelle, South Western Somalia.
The base, which Museveni said was manned by a company of UPDF soldiers, is located about 120 kilometers from the war-torn country’s capital, Mogadishu.
“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 FOB,” said Museveni.
The president’s statement comes amid increased public concern about the number of Ugandan soldiers killed in the attack.
The Defence Ministry and ATMIS ( African Union Transition Mission in Somalia) have since refused to disclose more details about the death toll.
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