President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has confirmed that a total of 54 soldiers, including one commander, were killed during the recent attack on the UPDF Forward Operating Base in Buulo Mareer town, southwest region of Mogadishu, by the Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia.

The President, also the Commander in Chief of all the armed forces, was briefing the NRM Party Parliamentary Caucus’ retreat at the National Leadership Institute-Kyankwanzi on Saturday, June 3rd, 2023.

“Before responding to very pertinent questions raised by members of the NRM parliamentary caucus, I updated them on the incident in Somalia. We discovered the lifeless bodies of fifty-four fallen soldiers, including, Lt.Col. Edward Nyororo, the commander,” said Gen. Museveni.

The president said the mistake in Somalia was made by two commanders, Maj. Oluka and Maj. Obbo, who ordered the soldiers to retreat.

He noted that all but the two commanders who misled the soldiers have been apprehended and will face charges in the military court martial.

“Our soldiers demonstrated remarkable resilience and reorganized themselves, resulting in the recapture of the base. These terrorists attempted another ill-fated attack on Baraawe Town, but our forces dealt a significant blow, forcing them to flee,” said Gen. Museveni.

Recently, the Commander Land Forces of the UPDF, Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga, was sent to Mogadishu by the President on a fact-finding mission to ascertain what could have led to the attack.

Over 800 Al-Shabaab terrorists attacked and overran the ATMIS Forward Operating Base in Buulo Mareer town, some 120 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, which was manned by UPDF soldiers.