KAMPALA, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said, part of the ongoing fight against the Al-Shabaab militant group.
The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) tasked with combating Al-Shabaab.
Recent attacks have stoked fears of jihadist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation, especially coming as AUSSOM struggles with insufficient troops and funding shortfalls.
The losses came during a three-day siege over a town in the Lower Shabelle region, a Ugandan defence ministry statement said, adding the town was recaptured from Al-Shabaab.
“Unfortunately we lost seven soldiers during the battle,” Ugandan People’s Defence Force spokesman Felix Kulayigye said.
AUSSOM, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, currently has 11,146 soldiers — although it stated in April it required an additional 8,000.
Somalia has long struggled with the violent Islamist insurgency, although the Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.
Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organisation’s resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy in capital Mogadishu in March. — NNN-AGENCIES