| Battle of Kampala | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ugandan Bush War | |||||||||
 Map of Kampala | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Uganda | National Resistance Movement | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Tito Okello Zeddy Maruru  Fred Okecho Samuel Nanyumba Eric Odwar Isaac Lumago |
Yoweri Museveni Salim Saleh Fred Mugisha Patrick Lumumba Chefe Ali Jet Mwebaze | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 12,000+ | c. 9,600 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
c. 80 killed c. 3,000 captured |
c. 20 killed 1 armoured personnel carrier destroyed | ||||||||
The Battle of Kampala was a battle of the Ugandan Bush War that took place from 17 to 26 January 1986 in which forces of the National Resistance Army (NRA) attacked and captured the Ugandan capital, Kampala, from the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). As a result, the Ugandan government was deposed and replaced by a new one under NRA leader Yoweri Museveni.
In 1981 Museveni initiated an insurgency in Uganda against the government, which was controlled by the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF). He soon joined the nascent National Resistance Movement (NRM) and took control of its armed wing, the NRA. In 1985 the NRA inflicted several key defeats on the UNLF's armed wing, the UNLA, leaving the Ugandan capital, Kampala, vulnerable to attack. Feeling pressured, the UNLF government led by President Tito Okello pursued negotiations with the NRM. The resulting peace agreement failed to end the conflict, and Okello amassed a large force of UNLA troops and allied militias to garrison Kampala in preparation for an attack, though its effectiveness was weakened by low morale, internal friction, and subterfuge. On 17 January 1986 the NRA began advancing on Kampala. They managed to occupy territory around the city, but the UNLA stemmed their advance by placing an artillery battery at a strategic roundabout. On 24 January the UNLA withdrew its battery, and the NRA began its main attack.
On the following day the NRA besieged several UNLA installations in Kampala, and by evening had secured Republic House, the UNLA headquarters. On 26 January the NRA captured Radio Uganda, but 1,000 UNLA troops from Entebbe broke through a roadblock and began advancing towards the city. Museveni and his chief of staff, Salim Saleh, redeployed their forces to counter the threat, in the process opening a gap in their cordon around Kampala and allowing many UNLA troops to escape. Okello fled in a helicopter and flew to Sudan. In the evening an NRA battalion ambushed the UNLA troops advancing from Entebbe while a company moved to attack their rear, forcing them to capitulate and ending the battle. On 29 January Museveni was sworn in as President of Uganda. The UNLA attempted to regroup in northern Uganda, but collapsed in the following months after being subject to further NRA attacks.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search