page_title: Fall of Kampala
section_title: Prelude
hierarchical_section_title: Fall of Kampala / Prelude
caption_attribution_description: English: Kampala and surrounding locales
context_page_description: The Fall of Kampala, also known as the Liberation of Kampala, was a battle during the Uganda–Tanzania War in 1979, in which the combined forces of Tanzania and the Uganda National Liberation Front attacked and captured the Ugandan capital, Kampala. As a result, Ugandan President Idi Amin was deposed, his forces were scattered, and a UNLF government was installed.
  Amin had seized power in Uganda in 1971 and established a brutal dictatorship. Seven years later he attempted to invade Tanzania to the south. Tanzania repulsed the assault and launched a counter-attack into Ugandan territory. After routing the Ugandans and their Libyan allies in Entebbe, the Tanzanians revised their existing offensive designs for Kampala. The plans called for the 208th Brigade to advance from the south, spearheaded by Lieutenant Colonel Ben Msuya's 800-strong 19th Battalion, which was to secure the centre of the city. The 207th Brigade and a UNLF battalion were to attack from the west, while the 201st Brigade was to establish roadblocks to the north to prevent Ugandan units from withdrawing. An eastern corridor was left open to allow the Libyans to evacuate to Jinja and fly out of the country.
context_section_description: In early April Tanzanian forces began to concentrate their efforts on weakening the Ugandan position in Kampala. Jets conducted several sorties against military targets in the city. Tanzanian commanders had originally assumed that Amin would station the bulk of his forces in the capital, and their initial plans called for a direct attack on the city. However, from the high ground in Mpigi they could see the Entebbe peninsula, where there was heavy Libyan air traffic and a large contingent of Ugandan and Libyan soldiers. If the TPDF seized Kampala before securing the town of Entebbe, it would be susceptible to a flanking attack. Taking Entebbe would cut off Uganda's Libyan reinforcements and permit an assault on the capital from the south. Msuguri made the decision to attack the peninsula first, and ordered the 208th Brigade to secure it. A preliminary bombardment frightened Amin in his official residence, the Entebbe State House, and he fled via helicopter to Kampala. On 7 April the brigade advanced into the town. Many Libyan soldiers attempted to evacuate to Kampala but were intercepted and killed. Following the seizure of Entebbe, hundreds of Ugandan soldiers garrisoning Kampala fled, many of them relocating with their moveable possessions to the country's north. While these troops attempted to flee the capital, one unit relocated from Bombo to Kampala to help defend Amin's government. It mostly consisted of members of West Nile tribes who were still loyal due to the patronage which they had received from the President. The remnants of the Libyan force joined the remaining Ugandan troops and took up positions around the capital. The morale of the Libyans and Uganda Army troops was extremely low despite Amin's public claims to the contrary.
  On the morning of 8 April, Tanzanian officers held a final meeting in the Entebbe State House before the attack on Kampala. Brigadier Mwita Marwa, commander of the 208th Brigade, conducted the briefing. Nyerere requested that his commanders leave the eastern road from the city leading to Jinja clear so that Libyan troops and foreign diplomats could evacuate. He thought that by letting the Libyans escape, Libya could avoid humiliation and quietly withdraw from the war. Nyerere also feared that further conflict with Libyan troops would incite Afro–Arab tensions and invite the armed belligerence of other Arab states. He sent a message to Gaddafi explaining his decision, saying that the Libyans could be airlifted out of Uganda unopposed from the airstrip in Jinja. He further requested that his forces avoid damaging key buildings in Kampala, including Mulago Hospital, Makerere University, and the Parliament of Uganda. The Tanzanian plan of attack called for an advance by the 207th Brigade and a UNLF battalion from the west along the road from Masaka with a simultaneous assault from Entebbe in the south by the 208th Brigade. The latter's 19th Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Ben Msuya was earmarked for the seizure of the city centre, while other units were to cover their flanks in the bush. The 201st Brigade was to maintain a "blocking action" north of Kampala to prevent Ugandan forces from escaping. The entire operation was supposed to take three days to complete.
  Amin made final preparations for the defence of the capital, and General Dusman Sabuni was left in charge of the defences. According to the Africa Research Bulletin, there were approximately 1,000 soldiers garrisoning the city, while journalist John Darnton reported on 9 April an estimate that Amin had 2,000 to 3,000 men just south of the capital as "a last line of defence". The Kampala garrison included members of the Chui Battalion, personnel of the Ugandan Air Force, and a few tanks. In addition to Ugandan and Libyan soldiers, a small number of allied Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) militants belonging to Fatah took up positions in the outskirts of Kampala. These Palestinians were commanded by Mahmoud Da'as and reportedly ready to fight. Regardless, they also prepared possible evacuation routes. Many civilians fled 
caption: Map of Kampala and its surroundings
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