UPDF Amisom commander salutes his troops for teaching a lesson to Al Shabaab in repulsed attack

The AMISOM Sector Contingent Commander, Brig.Michael Kabango has applauded his forces for repulsing an attack by Al Shabaab insurgents recently.

On Wednesday, the insurgents attempted to attack the UPDF and Somalia National Forces (SNA) base using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices but they were repulsed and on Thursday, Brig.Kabango paid a visit to the newly captured town of Awdheegle in northwest Somalia.

Speaking to the commanders of the joint forces, Brig.Kabango urged them to always stay alert and vigilant like they had done when they insurgents attacked.

He congratulated them for a great job in fending off the enemy attack and teaching them a lesson they will always live to remember.

“Although Alshabaab intention was to blow the bridge, they found you were alert and disrupted their mission. You taught them a lesson and they now know you don't attempt an attack on UPDF and walk away freely without scratch marks,” Brig Kabango said.

In the morning of August 14, 2019, the Al Shabaab using two improvised armored vehicle laden with bombs hit the Somali National Army checkpoint whereas the second one was hit before reaching the bridge.

The attack was in revenge for the joint forces' capture of the agricultural town of Awdheegle, 72Kms Northwest of Mogadishu city which acted as a logistical base for Alshabaab.

The town was also an administrative unit (Amniyat) manning illegal checkpoints to extort taxes from traders and vehicles owners and its liberation by the joint forces of SNA and AMISOM on August 6, 2019,was a big achievement.

The UPDF was the first army to deploy in Somalia under the AMISOM in 2007 and by then, the Ugandan army was controlling less than 10% of the battered capital Mogadishu, the biggest part being in the hands of the Al Shabaab insurgents.

In one of the fiercest battles, in 2011, the Al Shabaab militants were expelled from Bakara market, which was one of the insurgents’ strongholds in Mogadishu and since then, the jihadists have never returned to Mogadishu.

UPDF’s deployment demystified the saying that AMISOM was a “dead on arrival” mission before opening the way for other countries to send armies in Somalia.

Since their expulsion from Mogadishu, Al Shabaab insurgents loom in other areas mostly in the Lower Shabelle region.

The Ugandan troops are deployed in Sector One in Benadir,(has 16 districts) Banadir, and Lower Shabelle regions having pushed Al Shabaab militants for over 200km away from Mogadishu city.