Ugandan soldiers mistook Al-Shabaab attackers for farmers in Buulo-Mareer attack

Ungandan soldiers who survived the recent Al-Shabaab attack on their base in Somalia said they mistook Al-Shabaab militants for local farmers working in their gardens, according to a privately-owned Ugandan media outlet.

On May 26, Al-Shabaab militants attacked and overran a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) base in Buulo-Mareer town in the Lower Shabelle region – about 120km from Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

While Al-Shabaab claims that it killed 137 Ugandan forces, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda refuted the claims putting the number of slain Ugandan soldiers at 54. 

At a meeting with senior presidential advisor special operations Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who was in Somalia over the weekend, the survivors reportedly said “they delayed reacting to the attack thinking they [Al-Shabaab attackers] were just farmers in their gardens busy drawing water to irrigate their crops,” according to The Observer.

“Farmers irrigate their crops using tractors and donkeys throughout the night. This phenomenon led the troops delay to react thinking the lights in gardens were from farmers,” read a statement shared by Col Deo Akiiki the deputy UPDF spokesperson. 

Ugandan troops in Somalia operated under the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) whose mandate is set to expire by December 2024.

For his part, Muhoozi has highlighted “tactical and external weaknesses that were exploited by al-Shabaab to successfully overran the Buulo-Mareer camp”, The Observer added, noting that Muhoozi also cautioned the soldiers “not to relax” amid the African mission’s draw-down of its troops but to “be more aggressive” instead.

“Withdrawal operations if not well planned can cause a lot of damage than any other phase of the operation. Never hesitate to make decisions. Hesitation is very dangerous. Failure to decide in time automatically leads to death,” Muhoozi was quoted as saying. 

In recent months, the Somali army has led wide anti-terror offensives with the support of local militias to recapture territories from Al-Shabaab as ATMIS braces for exiting Somalia.