Ugandan Bush War
Guerrilla war in Uganda 1980–1986 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.
Ugandan Bush War | |||||||
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Milton Obote (left) and Yoweri Museveni (right), leaders of the UNLF government forces and National Resistance Army respectively for most of the war. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Tanzania (until 1985) |
National Resistance Movement (NRM)
UFM (1980–83) Rwenzururu movement (until 1982) Karamojong groups | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Milton Obote Tito Okello David Oyite-Ojok † Smith Opon Acak Bazilio Olara-Okello |
National Resistance Army: West Nile rebels: UFM and FEDEMU: Balaki Kirya[10] Andrew Kayiira (POW)[6] David Lwanga[6] | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Ugandan military
Pro-government militias
| Numerous rebel militias | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
UNLA and allied militias: 15,000+ (1981) 35,000–40,000 (1984) c. 15,000 (late 1985) Tanzania: 11,000 (until 1980) 800–1,000 (from 1981) c. 50 (1984) North Korea: 30+ (1981) c. 50 (1984) 170–700 (1985) |
Uganda Army: NRA: 900 (Dec. 1981)[12] 4,000 (early 1983)[12] c. 10,000 (late 1985) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
100,000–500,000 killed |
The unpopular President Milton Obote was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1971 by General Idi Amin, who established a military dictatorship. Amin was overthrown in 1979 following the Uganda-Tanzania War, but his loyalists started the Bush War by launching an insurgency in the West Nile region in 1980. Subsequent elections saw Obote return to power in a UNLA-ruled government. Several opposition groups claimed the elections were rigged, and united as the NRA under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni to start an armed uprising against Obote's government on 6 February 1981. Obote was overthrown and replaced as president by his general Tito Okello in 1985 during the closing months of the conflict. Okello formed a coalition government consisting of his followers and several armed opposition groups, which agreed to a peace deal. In contrast, the NRA refused to compromise with the government, and conquered much of western and southern Uganda in a number of offensives from August to December 1985.
The NRA captured Kampala, Uganda's capital, in January 1986. It subsequently established a new government with Museveni as president, while the UNLA fully disintegrated in March 1986. Obote and Okello went into exile. Despite the nominal end of the civil war, numerous anti-NRA rebel factions and militias remained active, and would continue to fight Museveni's government in the next decades.