On this day in 2002, Major Issa Ssesanga of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) was killed in a deadly ambush by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels at Porogali in Pader District while travelling to Gulu for a high-level regional security meeting.
Ssesanga was travelling in a military Land Rover behind a UPDF patrol truck when an estimated 60 LRA fighters launched a coordinated attack on the convoy along the Kitgum–Lira road.
The major and one of his escorts, identified as Opoka, were killed on the spot. Three other soldiers sustained serious injuries before reinforcements arrived and evacuated them to a health facility in Pajule.
The ambush came only months after the UPDF had launched Operation Iron Fist, a major military offensive into southern Sudan aimed at dismantling LRA bases. Instead of ending the insurgency, the operation was followed by a resurgence of rebel attacks inside northern Uganda, with the LRA increasingly targeting military convoys, major roads and camps for internally displaced persons.
The death of Maj Ssesanga was a significant blow to the UPDF and underscored the rebels' continued ability to gather intelligence and mount sophisticated attacks against senior military officers. Just a week later, another UPDF officer, Maj Geoffrey Ssegawa, was also killed in an ambush, reinforcing concerns that the insurgents had regained momentum despite the ongoing military offensive.
The Porogali attack also disrupted both military and civilian movement across northern Uganda. In response, the UPDF temporarily suspended road transport along key routes linking Kitgum, Pader and Lira as security operations were intensified. For much of the remainder of 2002, the Porogali stretch remained one of the most dangerous ambush points in the region during the LRA insurgency.
