Daily Monitor
Monday, January 23, 2012
Two UPDF soldiers, one a junior officer, have been killed by al-Shabaab
militants in Somalia, military and family sources have confirmed.This newspaper was told that Capt. Julius Wandaba and a
colleague were shot dead during an Amisom offensive against the
insurgents on Friday. The particulars of the other dead colleague were
not immediately available but another soldier was injured, the army
said.
There was no word on fatalities or casualties
suffered by al-Shabaab fighters, who in August last year, fled from
Mogadishu following heavy shelling by Amisom troops on their
strongholds.
Col. Felix Kulayigye, the UPDF spokesman, confirmed
they lost two soldiers in the Friday battle a few kilometres outside
Mogadishu city centre, but declined to give their particulars.
“We first need to inform their relatives,” he said,
suggesting the bodies could be flown in by today. It was not
immediately clear why relatives had not been notified more than 48 hours
after the soldiers’ demise.
Mr Richard Siango said a friend in Somalia
telephoned them on Friday to informally convey the sad news of the
killing, at the battlefield, of his younger brother Wandaba.
Tense moment for relatives
Earlier reports suggested he was
injured and had been hospitalised, and his family in Mbale relaxed a bit
hoping he would recuperate. At about 5pm on Friday, however, another
contact sent a short text message on the mobile phone of a family
friend, announcing the passing on of the Captain, according to Mr
Siango.
“We have not got any official communication from
the army, he told Daily Monitor by telephone on Saturday. “He (Wandaba)
was a hard-working, straight and objective person.”
The deceased joined the military in 2002 and was
previously deployed in South Sudan, DR Congo and Central African
Republic, relatives said.
During the weekend telephone conversation, Mr
Siango said a UPDF officer told them that the body of Capt. Wandaba and
his colleague would likely not be brought home until tomorrow.