Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
The semi-official government owned daily the NEWVISION has reported this morning that two Ugandan soldiers were killed on Wednesday in the fresh fighting in Mogadishu between Somali government forces and al-Shabaab Islamist militants.
Army spokesman Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the two peacekeepers were killed while defending the presidential palace.
Independent sources in Mogadishu said the dead included 27-year-old private Ismael (second name withheld). The New Vision could not immediately establish the identity of the other soldier.
The Ugandan soldiers were serving with the AMISOM, the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
“The soldiers were blown up in a bomb during a brief exchange with the Somali militants at 4:00pm,” the source narrated yesterday.
Kulayigye said the bodies were expected in the country last night. “We have been clashing with the militants since Monday when al-Shabaab attacked State House. Our soldiers were killed in defence,” he explained.
This latest attack comes just days after al-Shabaab attacked Somali government positions and other establishments guarded by AMISOM.
Ismael hails from a soldiering family in Lima village, Ludara county in Koboko district. His father (name withheld) served in different armies, including the Uganda Army and the National Resistance Army, now UPDF, before he retired at the rank of a sergeant in 1993.
Lima is survived by two wives and three children. He married both wives while on short leave from the peacekeeping mission. His first wife, who bore two children, hails from Bundibugyo district.
Ismael was last at home in 2008 when he married his second wife before returning to Somalia.
“It is a big blow to our family. The last time he came here there was merry-making in the family,” his brother, Ayimani, said on phone yesterday. Ismael was one of the 16 children in his family and the first-born of his mother.
“This boy shared everything he had with his family. When he came on leave from Somalia, he gave some of his earnings to his siblings to start up small businesses and farms,” Ayimani added.
Uganda and Burundi are the only countries which have contributed troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in the war-torn Somalia.
Fighting in Somalia has killed at least 18,000 people since 2007 and sent hundreds of thousands more fleeing from their homes. Al-Shabaab, believed to have links with al-Qaeda, is fighting to overthrow the newly-established transitional government headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
On Tuesday, the US promised to step up assistance to the AU forces. The US warned of a growing threat from militants linked to al-Qaeda in Somalia and nearby Yemen. The US military assistance is expected to include additional equipment, training, logistical support and information-sharing, said Gen. William Ward, the commander of the US Africa Command.
There are about 6,300 Ugandan and Burundian troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu. There have been calls for their mandate to be widened to include enforcing the peace. The African Union Summit starting in Kampala soon is expected to discuss the issue.
Ward played down the impact of the recent bombings in Uganda on the resolve of the US to help and African states to send more forces to Somalia.
“At this point, they (troop-contributing nations) remain committed to it. So we take them at their word and we’re hopeful that will be the case.”
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