Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni praised the role his army was playing in stabilizing Somalia.
“I need to salute our soldiers who are participating in AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia). They have earned a good name for Uganda in the whole of Africa and the whole world,” he said.
Gen Aronda Nyakairima, the Chief of Defense Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Force said that the army has now got the capacity to perform continental and international peacekeeping missions.
These troops who now form UGABAG (Uganda Battle Group) Seven will replace their colleagues UGABAG Six who are currently deployed in Somalia.
A simulation exercise was carried out at Singo Training Wing to test the capacity of the troops to overcome obstacles. Bullets were fired below tight ropes that the soldiers were walking on.
Uganda is the largest contributor to the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia. Museveni pointed out that the policy of the National Resistance Movement is not to succumb to wrong ideas, but to always stand for the truth.
At the same time, he said that Uganda will not succumb to terrorism threats by the Somalia militant group, Al Shabaab.
Mr Museveni, who was addressing a press conference at the State Lodge in Jinja Municipality at the conclusion of his campaign trail in Jinja Sub-Region, urged Ugandans to be vigilant in all public places and report suspicious characters.
On Monday evening, a grenade attack targeting a Kampala-bound public bus in Nairobi’s central business district left three people dead and dozens injured. Most of the injured were Ugandans who were going home for Christmas holidays.
A State House statement issued on Tuesday said that even after this year’s July 11 bombings that left 76 people dead and scores injured in the capital Kampala, Uganda’s continued stay in Somalia proved to the Somalis that Uganda is a reliable ally.
“After the World Cup tournament bomb blasts that rocked Kampala, Al Shabaab wrongly believed that Ugandans would abandon their Somali brothers and sisters. The UPDF, however, remained in Somalia and kept providing security and treatment to the Somalis.
Museveni has since sent condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the blast, adding that because of the security measures and vigilance of the bus operators, the terrorist suspect was easily identified.
Meanwhile, a team of Ugandan anti and counter terrorism police officers on Tuesday joined their Kenyan counterparts in Nairobi to probe the grenade attacks.
Source: Daily Nation