Bodies of slain Ugandan soldiers flown home

Twelve bodies of slain Ugandan soldiers who were killed in an ambush on July 30, 2017 in Somalia are received at the Entebbe Airforce Base on August 2. PHOTO | ALEX ESAGALA 

In Summary

• The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) soldiers, serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), were in a convoy at Gorowen in Lower Shabelle region, about 140km Southwest of Mogadishu, when they were attacked by Islamist Al Shabaab fighters early Sunday. Seven others were injured.

By RAYMOND TAMALE
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Twelve bodies of slain Ugandan soldiers who were killed in an ambush on Sunday in Somalia were flown home.

In coffins draped in the national flag, the bodies were received by top military officials and families at the army air base in Entebbe on Wednesday and then taken to Bombo Military Hospital for embalmment.

The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) soldiers, serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), were in a convoy at Gorowen in Lower Shabelle region, about 140km Southwest of Mogadishu, when they were attacked by Islamist Al Shabaab fighters early Sunday. Seven others were injured.

The Ugandan contingent was conducting a joint patrol together with the Somalia National Army.

Al Shabaab claimed to have killed 39 soldiers in the ambush. The numbers the militants give are most times exaggerated.

In September 2015, Al Shabaab overrun a UPDF base in Janaale killing 19 soldiers.

READ: Why Amisom soldiers fell to Al Shabaab in Somalia

On Tuesday, Ugandan lawmakers demanded to know the human cost of the country’s mission in Somalia.

Uganda has the largest contingent in Amisom with more than 6,000 troops.

Al Shabaab is fighting to force out the 22,000- strong Amisom peacekeepers as well as the internationally-backed government under President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo and impose its strict interpretation of Islam in Somalia.

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