Ugandan Bush War

Ugandan Bush War
Milton Obote (left) and Yoweri Museveni (right), leaders of the UNLF government forces and National Resistance Army respectively for most of the war.
Date 6 October 1980 – March 1986 Location Uganda Result NRM victory Yoweri Museveni becomes President of Uganda Civil war de facto continues
Belligerents
Ugandan government UNLF/UPC FEDEMU (from 1985) FUNA (from 1985) UNRF (I) (from 1985) UFM (from 1985)  Tanzania (until 1985)  North Korea (1981–1985) Supported by: Commonwealth of Nations[1]  United Kingdom[1]  Australia (until 1984)[1]  Canada (until 1984)[1]  United States[1]	National Resistance Movement (NRM) PRA UFF West Nile rebels: Uganda Army (1980)[2] UNRF (I) (1980–85)[2] FUNA (1980–85)[2] Nile Regiment[3] UFM (1980–83) FEDEMU (1983–85)[4] ULM[5] UNLF-AD[6] Supported by:  Libya[7]  Soviet Union[8]  Cuba[8]  China[8]  Saudi Arabia (West Nile Rebels only) Mozambique (alleged)[5]  Tanzania (from 1985) Rwenzururu movement (until 1982) Karamojong groups
Commanders and leaders
Milton Obote Tito Okello David Oyite-Ojok † Smith Opon Acak Bazilio Olara-Okello	National Resistance Army: Yoweri Museveni Salim Saleh Sam Magara † Steven Kashaka Joram Mugume Pecos Kuteesa Fred Rwigyema Yusuf Lule West Nile rebels: Moses Ali Amin Onzi[6] Felix Onama[3] Isaac Lumago[9] Elly Hassan UFM and FEDEMU: Balaki Kirya[10] Andrew Kayiira (POW)[6] David Lwanga[6]
Units involved
Ugandan military Uganda National Liberation Army Conciliated rebel groups Pro-government militias People's Militia National Youth Army Tribal militias UPC youth paramilitaries Korean People's Army[11]	Numerous rebel militias
Strength
UNLA and allied militias: 15,000+ (1981) 35,000–40,000 (1984) c. 15,000 (late 1985)  Tanzania: 11,000 (until 1980) 800–1,000 (from 1981) c. 50 (1984)  North Korea: 30+ (1981) c. 50 (1984) 170–700 (1985)	Uganda Army: c. 7,100 (1980)[2] NRA: 900 (Dec. 1981)[12] 4,000 (early 1983)[12] c. 10,000 (late 1985)
Casualties and losses
100,000–500,000 killed

The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.

The unpopular President Milton Obote was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1971 by General Idi Amin, who established a military dictatorship. Amin was overthrown in 1979 following the Uganda-Tanzania War, but his loyalists started the Bush War by launching an insurgency in the West Nile region in 1980. Subsequent elections saw Obote return to power in a UNLA-ruled government. Several opposition groups claimed the elections were rigged, and united as the NRA under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni to start an armed uprising against Obote's government on 6 February 1981. Obote was overthrown and replaced as president by his general Tito Okello in 1985 during the closing months of the conflict. Okello formed a coalition government consisting of his followers and several armed opposition groups, which agreed to a peace deal. In contrast, the NRA refused to compromise with the government, and conquered much of western and southern Uganda in a number of offensives from August to December 1985.

The NRA captured Kampala, Uganda's capital, in January 1986. It subsequently established a new government with Museveni as president, while the UNLA fully disintegrated in March 1986. Obote and Okello went into exile. Despite the nominal end of the civil war, numerous anti-NRA rebel factions and militias remained active, and would continue to fight Museveni's government in the next decades.