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Original Post Date: 2010-08-02 Time: 07:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Joshua Kato
Kampala – The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) are one of the most battle-hardened armies in Africa. But the ball game in Somalia is different, as Joshua Kato who just returned from Mogadishu writes:
As the huge Lockheed Hercules C-130 cargo plane began its descent to Mogadishu International Airport on the morning of July 23, I feared it would come under attack. Flying in the bright morning and lazily gliding towards the runway it, was an easy target for the insurgents who roam the area as well as operate from the Indian Ocean.
When we finally touched down, I was greeted by the reality in Mogadishu and how lucky we had been not to be brought down by a missile.
Seated at the far end of the runway was the remains of a giant Russian-made Illuyshin-76D cargo plane that was hit by an RPG as it landed at the airport in 2008. It is a stark statement of the militants’ capability and ruthlessness.
I later learn that the positions along the coast that were previously used by the militants to fire at planes have since been occupied by the Africa Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) forces.
“Whenever our plane is landing, we launch our marine gunboats into the ocean to deter any possible attacks,” says marine base commander, Lt. Dennis Emenyu.
Al-Shabaab militants had made it a habit of using the ocean to attack planes bringing in UPDF supplies. As a result planes had to land under the cover of darkness.
To counter any further threats, the UPDF also deployed several artillery pieces, ranging from 14mm to 37mm guns, light multi-barrelled rocket launchers on the shoreline to deter any offshore attacks.
With the inlet and exit routes secured, the army now had to secure their base. Initially, they mainly camped near the airport. They, however, moved further up and set up what is called Base Camp. This is the largest AMISOM base in Somalia. It covers over eight square kilometres.
“This is the nerve centre of this mission,” a soldier says.
To the north, facing the main city centre, tens of 12mm machineguns, 20mm cannons, mortars and recoilless guns are positioned at different locations to beat off any possible attacks.
But this is one of the most peaceful sectors, largely because the population is very friendly. The UPDF has been reaching out the local population by offering them medical care and other provisions. This has endeared the war-weary Somalis to the Ugandans.
Beyond base camp
But after securing the camp, Al-Shabaab started launching missiles into the camp and the airport. To solve this, the forces had to move into the interior of the city.
“Over the last few months we have moved further into the northwest of the city. This is all in reaction to attacks against our positions by the armed opposition groups,” explains Maj. Barigye Ba-Hoku.
But the adversaries they are tussling against are hard-knuckled and experienced too. Both the Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Al-Islam are daring fighters.
From what I saw, the UPDF needs applause for what they have achieved so far.
The first objective was to secure the strategic K-4 (Kilometre 4).
“That position symbolises the violent history of Mogadishu. No group can be secure without holding that intersection,” says AMISOM’s Capt. Chris Magezi.
The position is an intersection with four roads leading to several strategic locations in the city.
“We are here because this area is very strategic,” says Col. Michael Ondoga, the commander of the Ugandan contingent.
Other key positions include State House and the roads to the harbour, airport and main university complex. AMISOM forces control several of the key buildings around K-4 as a buffer.
“They have tried to recapture this place but every time they do, they die in many numbers,” says Ondoga.
The last time they attacked it was on the morning of July 17. But like other days, they were beaten off.
To remain at K4, AMISOM dug deep into their resources and captured more of the adjoining buildings. There are heavy machineguns mounted on top of all these buildings. Repeated incursions by Al-Shabaab in order to recapture the junction have failed.
Juba Hotel
At Juba Hotel, or the former Juba Hotel in Mogadishu, Al-Shabaab can now only ‘snipe’ at the AMISOM forces, given that they were chased away a few weeks ago. Over 50 of the Al-Shabaab died in this battle, and their bodies were buried in the former hotel compound.
“We found fresh bodies here,” says Maj. Willy Mutungi, the contingent intelligence officer. It was a hard fight to chase them away. It was movie-like, a window-to-window, door-to-door action.
“Sometimes you have to walk in your shadow to win such fights,” says one of the soldiers. This in military terms means walking undetected.
“Do not walk openly in the corridors,” Maj. Mutungi warns me as I walked on the second top floor of the building. “Move like a shadow,” he orders and I immediately crouch down not knowing how to simulate a shadow.
To counter enemy snipers, the AMISOM forces deployed their own snipers who are always alert with their muzzles peeping through the holes drilled into the walls of the buildings and fingers on the trigger. A shot from across draws instant response and this has led to the taking out of many a militant.
“Do you see this hole here?” asks Maj. Mutungi. “It was being used by the enemy to fire at us all the time but we also dug our own holes and soon, the enemy snipers were no more,” he said.
On almost each of the 10 floors, the UPDF has positioned 20mm cannons, recoilless guns and RPGs.
The militants can still fire at the forces from about a kilometre away, but that will soon be neutralised, thanks to a newly positioned 20mm cannon.
“When a sniper takes position to fire at us, we shall blow him to smithereens,” Mutungi says.
Intelligence indicates that Al-Shabaab hasn’t got many deadly snipers. This means the small number of sharp shooters keeps on moving from one position to another.
Like the case is elsewhere, Al-Shabaab snipers briefly used the Ministry of Interior building about a kilometre away to haunt the AMISOM and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that occupy Juba Hotel and Villa Somalia.
But last week the two forces surprised Al-Shabaab and ejected it from the building. The TFG has now reoccupied it.
This outpost in the thick of the bombed-out Somali town is just one of the many strategic areas that have been captured by the AMISOM and TFG forces over the last few weeks.
On July 26, AMISOM forces moved into the building, pushing Al Shabaab further back. Al-Shabaab has tried to recapture it, but failed with serious casualties. The latest such attempt was July 23.
“We killed many of them,” says Maj. Ba-Hoku.
Under the peacekeeping mandate, the UPDF operating under AMISON cannot launch an offensive on Al-Shabaab and other militants. It only hits back when attacked and this is what is happening.
STATE HOUSE
State House is one of the most heavily guarded positions in Mogadishu. There are at least four Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) stationed on the premises, in addition to over 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).
There is both a 12.7mm Heavy Machinegun and several 20mm cannons on every level of the rectangular building.
“We have to defend this location at all costs because it would be a very big embarrassment if they captured it,” says Col. Ondoga.
The State House was attacked again on July 28. But the militants were repulsed leaving many of them dead. In all these cases, AMISOM forces fight window-to-window, door-to-door, in short spasmodic firefights, some of which go on for days.
Near the coastline, Uruba Hotel and the bank building were key positions held by Al-Shabaab until AMISOM flushed them out.
“Before we captured these locations,the enemy was shelling our positions almost every hour,” says Lt. Col. Francis Chemonges, the sector commander in charge of Bondere, State House, Urubah Hotel and Juba Hotel.
Not more than 500 metres away, along the coastline, I saw a group of Al-Shabaab fighters resting on a pick-up truck mounted with a General Machine Gun. Given the confidence I had developed in UPDF I felt safe and had no reason to worry.
“They fired at us this morning but we returned with heavier fire and stopped them,” Lt. Col. Chemonges reassures me.
The situation is so calm that many of the soldiers are watching football on a newly installed LCD flat screen TV.
There is no other way of solving this than to ‘visit’ the insurgents and chase them further away. In urban warfare, there is no blinking because the one who blinks is shot by the enemy. This is why anti-sniper positions are manned 24/7.
Both sides in Mogadishu have adapted to the use of the 12.7mm General Purpose Machinegun as the leading sniper weapon. The gun has got an effective range of over 2km and once it is fitted with a telescopic view, it becomes deadly.
Suicide bombers
One of the most daring suicide attacks were carried out in September 2009 at the AU force headquarters.
Using an armoured Toyota Land-Cruiser, painted in AU colours, the attackers waited for a day when all top AMISOM officials were meeting and drove in.
“The driver lied to the guards at the checkpoint that he was going for the meeting, then they let him through,” explained an AMISOM soldier. Luckily, moments before he got to his target, he was detected by an army sergeant.
“When he was questioned, he drove through the tyre barriers and detonated the bomb,” explained Chris Magezi.
The blast killed over 19 people, including the Burundian contingent commander and destroyed over 30 vehicles.
The other bomber sneaked through and hit the headquarters of Dynacorp, the company responsible for transporting AMISOM’s logistics.
“The threat of suicide bombers is real,” says Maj. Ba-Hoku.
To prevent such attacks, armoured trucks are now positioned at every entrance and are only removed after the identities of people in a vehicle are established.
Suicide bombings are as scary as roadside bombs which constitute Al-Shabaab’s main military operations.
“When we had just come here, there was a roadside bomb every other day,” recalled Ba-Hoku. The most notorious areas included the stretch between Base Camp and K-4.
“We deployed sweepers to remove the bombs ahead of every convoy, and the sweepers became the targets of the bombs.”
To finally solve the problem, AMISOM set up a detach forcing the bombers to run away.
Battle tanks are a good element in this urban warfare because they give AMISOM an edge in terms of firepower.
In fact, tanks have been involved in many of the operations to capture different buildings across the city. The T-55 is one of the most widely used.
Supply lines
As the AMISOM forces move further into the heart of Mogadishu, the supply lines of the troops are extending too. The forces are supplied through heavily armed supply convoys. They are more than 10 sets of convoys, which protect trucks carrying supplies or carry light supplies like amm.
The major vehicles used are the tried and tested Mamba and Kaspir infantry fighting vehicles.
But they still come under attack.
“You see that ditch in the middle of the road?” asked Maj. Mutungi. “They dug under the road and as the tank rolled past, they detonated explosives and damaged it,” he added.
The attacks are frequent but morale inside the UPDF camp is high and the force is well equipped.
The medial facilities for instance are far better than most hospitals in Uganda.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 31 July 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201008020168.html?viewall=1