UPDF deploys choppers to Somalia for first time in eight years

The UPDF has deployed choppers in Somalia to serve under AMISOM to reinforce military operations against the Al Shabaab insurgents, the Nile Post has learnt.

The army aviation unit was on Tuesday flagged off by the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen.David Muhoozi at a function held at the UPDF Air Force(UPDF- AF) wing in Nakasongola.

Gen.Muhoozi said that with the deployment of the aviation unit, operations against the Al Shabaab militants will be much easier because of the air support.

“The presence of airpower will offer us extensive asymmetric advantages over the unconventional and `dispersed enemy in Somalia. With air assets, we will be able respond quickly with precision fires or inject a quick reaction force once the enemy assembles,” he said.

According to the CDF,  the presence of air assets will also not only guarantee the dominance of firepower for the UPDF over the enemy but also provide marked advantage on technical intelligence, among other benefits.

“Once eventually fully injected on the operation theatre with all the assets, we are confident that you will provide the ground forces with the necessary firepower that was missing to subdue the enemy. Airpower is also an important intelligence capability, enhancing surveillance and reconnaissance that we have been operating without for over a decade.”

Gen.Muhoozi urged the Air Force team to fully cultivate the advantages they can offer to the ground forces so as to bring a quick end to the Al-Shabaab menace.

Uganda last sent an aviation unit to Somalia in 2012 but the three choppers crashed over Mt Kenya en-route to Somalia and left seven soldiers dead.

Negotiations for UPDF to deploy another set of choppers have been undergoing.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Commander Air Forces, Lt Gen Charles Lwanga Lutaaya said the deployment is based on a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between the African Union, United Nations and Government of Uganda.

The agreement authorized the aviation services to include, but not limited to, timely evacuation from hostile environments, transportation of dangerous goods, quick insertion and extraction of troops, aerial surveillance and reconnaissance and armed escorts.

The UPDF choppers will also be involved in armed air reconnaissance, main supply routes support, combat search and rescue, support for airmobile operations, close air support, deterrence operations, air cover, armed patrols, interdiction and troop resupply in hostile environment missions and transportation of personnel and cargo.

Lt Gen Lutaaya noted that the UPDF aviation unit should have deployed earlier but it was affected by a setback of the 2012 aircraft crash on Mt Kenya during deployment phase.

“Despite the air crash set-back, UPDF-AF vision was not exterminated. We learnt from that tragedy and have put energies together over time with the support from our partners to form an Aviation Unit that is ready to deploy for AMISOM operations,” said Lt Gen Lutaaya.

The occasion was attended by among others, the Joint Chief of Staff – Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu, Chief of Staff Land Forces – Maj Gen Leopold Kyanda, who also represented the Commander Land Forces, Chief of Staff Air Forces – Maj Gen Charles Okidi and Chief of Personnel and Administration – Maj Gen George Igumba.

Background

This is the first time in eight years Ugandan military helicopters are being deployed in Somalia after the first attempt in 2012 ended disastrously when three out of four choppers crashed in Kenya on their way to Mogadishu.

The crash was a big blow to the operations in Somalia against the Al Shabaab militants.

Whereas the incident happened eight years ago, Uganda is yet to receive compensation from the UN as negotiations over the same continue,  with the humanitarian body insisting that by the time the choppers crashed, they had not yet arrived in the operation area in Somalia.

Why choppers

According to the UPDF, choppers are a very good force multiplier in their Somalia operations against the insurgents.

Apart from providing aerial cover, the choppers are supposed to act as aerial escort for convoys, assist in emergence rescue, evacuations, and air searches for the AMISOM forces.

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.

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.