Uganda President Museveni addresses heads of state during the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in the Angolan
capital of Luanda January 15, 2014. PPU PHOTO.
By BARBARA AMONG Daily Monitor
In Summary
- The disclosure came after Uganda legislators had retroactively backed the deployment of Ugandan soldiers to South Sudan, on the premise that they were mainly there on peacekeeping basis and helping to evacuate Ugandan nationals
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has revealed
that his forces are actively fighting rebels in South Sudanese
territory, and that the country had already lost some of its soldiers in
combat.
The disclosure came after Uganda legislators had
retroactively backed the deployment of Ugandan soldiers to South Sudan,
on the premise that they were mainly there on peacekeeping basis and
helping to evacuate Ugandan nationals.
But the Ugandan leader later said that the country's army was fighting alongside loyalist South Sudan forces.
"Only the other day, January 13, the [South Sudan
army] SPLA and elements of our army had a big battle with the rebel
troops about 90km from Juba where we inflicted a big defeat on them," Mr
Museveni told fellow regional leaders meeting for a summit in Luanda,
Angola.
"Unfortunately, many lives were lost on the side
of the rebels. We also took casualties and had some dead," he said,
without giving figures.
The admission by President Museveni confirms
claims by Ugandan MPs that the country was actively fighting in South
Sudan and had lost soldiers in the crisis that started on December 15 in
the capital Juba.
The Ugandan army had several times denied it was involved in any combat operations in South Sudan.
Asked about the developments, Ugandan defence
minister Crispus Kiyonga deflected the question to the army
spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, who said: "Well, the President has
said it."
He added: "Details are scanty at the moment but all I can say is that our forces had a very successful battle."
The President’s remarks drew condemnation from the shadow attorney-general Abdu Katuntu.
Mr Katuntu said MPs will task the Executive to explain and account for Ugandans they may have endangered by engaging in combat.
By taking sides, he said the government had pitted Ugandans against ordinary South Sudanese.
"As Parliament, we need to take steps immediately
now that we know we were lied to. We want the Executive to account for
Ugandans they took in and put in harm’s way in the conflict because they
got our approval fraudulently,” said Mr Katuntu.
No comments :
Post a Comment