The Commander in Chief (CiC) of UPDF Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has listed the number of dead military officers on the battlefield in Somalia as six..
Earlier the army publicist Brig Richard Karemire had informed the media that only four UPDF combatants had been killed by Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia.
The Al-Qaeda linked affiliation- Al-Shabaab attacked an African Union military camp outside Mogadishu on Sunday, killing an unknown number Ugandan peacekeeper.
Karemire said 38 terrorsits were taken down in a fierce fighting.
An international online publication The Guardian reported that 46 officers had been taken out of action on Sunday.
Army spokesman however, refuted this as a wild claim maintaining that UPDF had “lost four gallant soldiers and six were causalities.
He said that 30 Shabaab militants had been killed, while the Islamists claimed in a statement to have killed 59 Ugandan soldiers.
But his boss, the Commander in Chief, President Museveni has now said the army lost six and not four officers.
“On Easter Sunday our soldiers in Somalia heroically gave serious blows to Al-Shabaab, killing 36 of them and destroying six vehicles full of explosives. This was because they were alert. Unfortunately, two vehicles of the enemy entered one of the three sites attacked. One vehicle was detonated and killed eight of our soldiers. May their souls rest in eternal peace. I extend condolences to their families,” Museveni said.
“It is gratifying, however, that the bold but adventurous strategy of Al-Shabaab failed. With constant vigilance, victory is assured. I congratulate our soldiers for the good work they did yesterday, the death of eight of our soldiers notwithstanding,” he added.
