page_title: Battle of Lukaya
section_title: 10 March
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Lukaya / Battle / 10 March
caption_attribution_description: IMG_2218
context_page_description: The Battle of Lukaya was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War. It was fought between 10 and 11 March 1979 around Lukaya, Uganda, between Tanzanian forces and Ugandan government forces. After briefly occupying the town, Tanzanian troops and Ugandan rebels retreated under artillery fire. The Tanzanians subsequently launched a counterattack, retaking Lukaya and killing hundreds of Libyans and Ugandans.
  President Idi Amin of Uganda attempted to invade neighbouring Tanzania to the south in 1978. The attack was repulsed, and Tanzania launched a counterattack into Ugandan territory. In February 1979 the Tanzania People's Defence Force seized Masaka. The TPDF's 201st Brigade was then instructed to secure Lukaya and its causeway to the north, which served as the only direct route through a large swamp to Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Meanwhile, Amin ordered his forces to recapture Masaka, and a force was assembled for the purpose consisting of Ugandan troops, allied Libyan soldiers, and a handful of Palestine Liberation Organisation guerrillas, led by Lieutenant Colonel Godwin Sule.
context_section_description: On the morning of 10 March the TPDF conducted a light bombardment of Lukaya, which had been deserted by the populace. The 201st Brigade then occupied the town to await crossing the causeway the next day, and they began to dig trenches as a precautionary measure. The Tanzanians and the Ugandans and Libyans were unaware of each other's positions. In the late afternoon, around three o'clock, the Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force began its advance toward Lukaya, with orders to take Masaka within three hours. Upon seeing the Tanzanians at dusk, they initiated a barrage with the Katyusha rockets. The artillery overshot them, but the mostly inexperienced Tanzanian soldiers were frightened, and many of them broke rank and fled. Though others remained at their defensive positions, they were nonetheless surprised and quickly forced to withdraw into the swamp along the Masaka road after seeing the Libyan T-55s and three Ugandan M4A1 Sherman tanks advancing toward them. Nobody was killed in the action. Despite its orders to recapture Masaka, the Ugandan-Libyan force stopped in Lukaya, fearing that the Tanzanians were trying to bait them into an ambush. The Libyans established defensive positions but did not dig any trenches. Instead, the troops were allowed to rest, while the commanders prepared for the next phase of the battle. Only three Tanzanian tanks guarded the road. Kombe and his subordinates tried to reassemble their brigade so it could continue fighting, but the soldiers were shaken and could not be organised.
  Tanzanian commanders decided to alter their plans to prevent the loss of Lukaya from turning into a debacle. The 208th Brigade under Brigadier Mwita Marwa, which was 60 kilometres (37 mi) north-west of the town, was ordered to reverse course and as quickly as possible cut off the Ugandans and Libyans from Kampala. The tanks on the Masaka road were instructed to advance and open fire on the Ugandan and Libyan positions. Their drivers were hesitant to do so without infantry support, so Musuguri dispatched one of his officers to the area to ensure that the order was carried out. Volunteers were recruited from the 201st Brigade to infiltrate Lukaya through the swamp and gather intelligence. Overnight the situation was dominated by confusion; the Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force and the TPDF's 201st Brigade were disorganised, and troops from both sides moved around in the darkness (there was no moonlight) along the road and in the town, unable to differentiate between each other. In one incident, Oyite-Ojok was leading a band of Kikosi Maalum (KM) fighters down the road when they heard other persons talking in Swahili. Oyite-Ojok and his group assumed they were allies, but then one of them said in Luo—a language not spoken in Tanzania, "Just wait until morning and we'll crush these stupid Acholi." Oyite-Ojok instructed his men to open fire, but in the dark they were unable to verify if they had struck anybody. The Tanzanian patrols were largely unsuccessful in verifying the Ugandan-Libyan positions, so their tanks' fire was ineffective. Over the course of the night eight Tanzanian soldiers and one KM fighter were killed.
caption: The Ugandans and Libyans used T-55 (example in Libyan service pictured) and M4A1 Sherman tanks during the Battle of Lukaya.[22]
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