A somber mood has engulfed the Entebbe Old Airport this afternoon after the plane carrying the bodies of 12 UPDF soldiers killed in an ambush by Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia on Sunday, touched the ground.
The bodies were received by several UPDF senior officers that were led by the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (D/CDF) Lieutenant General Wilson Mbadi and the UPDF Commander of Land Forces (CLF) Major General Peter Elweru.
Before being flown back home, the bodies of the fallen soldiers had been at the Mogadishu Level II hospital for management and treatment.
On Monday UPDF spokesperson Brigadier Richard Karemire confirmed that the 12 soldiers were killed, while seven others sustained injuries in an attack at Gorowen between Balumaler and Beladamini in lower Shabelle region, south west of Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, earlier today Brig. Karemire said the remains will be taken to the hospital at army headquarters after which they will be transported to their ancestral homes for burial.
“Our comrades will be flown in today, the remains will be taken to our headquarters and then will be transported to their families,” Brig. Karemire was quoted as saying by local media, adding that the deceased will be accorded burials with full military honours.
Further, Brig. Karemire said the deaths will not deter the UPDF from seeking to accomplish its pacification mission in Somalia.
“We are pan-Africans; when we went in Somalia, we knew this would happen; this is the price we are paying but we don’t need to lose hope,” he said, adding that the Al Shabaab militants had lost ground to launch devastating attacks the peacekeepers.
“We broke the back of al-Shabaab and no doubt about that; when we deployed in Somalia, they were everywhere. Now all the key towns in Somalia were recaptured and they are now under the government of Somali,” Brig, Karemire said.
