A devastating al-Shabaab raid in Somalia that saw militants overrun a post of Ugandan soldiers operating under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has forced Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni into an awkward discussion about how corruption could have cost the country dearly.
The attack on a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Buulo Mareer, Lower Shabelle, 120 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, Somalia, on May 26 is considered to be the bloodiest against Ugandans since the country deployed in 2007.
At least 54 Ugandan soldiers were killed in the raid, including a commander, identified as Lt Col Edward Nyororo, according to Museveni, who spoke over the weekend. The number of fatalities could be significantly higher, according to several reports. An unspecified number of soldiers were captured alive by the militants.
“The terrorists were many, about 800 or so,” Museveni said in a statement. “Some soldiers panicked, got disorganized giving an advantage to al-Shabaab and they “did not perform as expected”.