How Al-Shabaab "confused" locals before raiding UPDF base

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Al-Shabaab raid on Ugandan People's Defense Forces [UPDF] base in southern Somalia could have been thwarted after all, had the militants not changed the course, further confusing locals who had sighted the and even contemplated reporting their movements to authorities in Somalia.

According to multiple sources, the increased activities of Al-Shabaab had been detected in Qoryoley township prior to the unfortunate incident but somehow, the militants managed to get off the radar from hawk-eyed locals who were monitoring them throughout all that time.

Based on manoeuvres the militants were making, locals confessed, there was an anticipation that al-Shabaab was likely to attack either Qoryoley or Awdhegle, north and northeast of Bulo Marer, but the group caught them by surprise when news of the attack emerged from Bulo Marer.

It is the decision by the militants to divert from movements towards the north that confused locals leading to the attack at Bulo Marer in the southeast, leading to the deaths of several soldiers. The UPDF soldiers were caught unaware, giving minimum resistance to the group which eventually overran the base.

Although the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS], Uganda, and Somali authorities are yet to disclose the exact number of casualties, multiple sources say the number of deaths could be the way between 50 to 137 soldiers as reported by the Al-Shabaab militants, who were reportedly still in charge of the base.

Ugandan authorities admitted that a number of soldiers could have been taken hostage by the militants but the exact number has not yet been established. Most of the AU troops in Bulo Marer escaped to the nearest UPDF base in Golweyn, locals said.

There were about 221 UPDF soldiers in the base at the time of the attack according to military sources in Uganda and already, bodies of those killed are being flown to the East African nation for burial. A furious President Yoweri Museveni threatened that Al-Shabaab "will dearly pay for their actions" while addressing the nation.

Uganda is a critical security stakeholder in Somalia and for the last 16 years, the country has worked closely with the Horn of Africa nation for stake building. With ATMIS set to draw down the troops in Somalia, currently, there are close to 4,500 soldiers from UPDF serving in Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE