Ugandan Bush War The Ugandan Bush War ( also known as the Luwero War , the Ugandan civil war or the Resistance War ) refers to the guerrilla war waged between 1981 and 1986 in Uganda by the National Resistance Army ( NRA ) against the government of Milton Obote , and later that of Tito Okello . Events leading to the war . Following the Uganda - Tanzania War that removed Idi Amin in 1979 , a period of intense competition and fighting for power between different groups that had helped the Tanzania People ' s Defence Force against Idi Amin ' s army , followed . These groups , who had united as the Uganda National Liberation Army ( UNLA ) and its political wing , the Uganda National Liberation Front ( UNLF ) , formed a quasi - parliamentary organ known as the National Consultative Commission ( NCC ) . NCC removed the interim government of Yusuf Lule and installed Godfrey Binaisa as president . Binaisa was himself removed from power by the Military Commission , a powerful organ within the UNLF headed by Paulo Muwanga , and whose deputy was Yoweri Museveni ( then leader of Uganda Patriotic Movement ) . A Presidential Commission with three members , Saulo Musoke , Polycarp Nyamuchoncho and Joel Hunter Wacha - Olwol , then governed the country until the December 1980 general elections which were won by Milton Obote ' s Uganda Peoples Congress . Following the bitterly disputed elections , in which Museveni ' s UPM party was a minor contender , Museveni alleged electoral fraud and declared an armed rebellion against the UNLA ( which was now Uganda ' s national army ) and the government of Milton Obote . The war . Museveni and his supporters retreated to the southwest of the country and formed the Popular Resistance Army ( PRA ) . The PRA later merged with former president Lule ' s group , the Uganda Freedom Fighters ( UFF ) , to create the National Resistance Army ( NRA ) and its political wing , the National Resistance Movement ( NRM ) . Concurrently , two other rebel groups , the Uganda National Rescue Front ( UNRF ) and Former Uganda National Army ( FUNA ) , formed in West Nile from the remnants of Amin ' s supporters and fought the UNLA in West Nile . Paul Kagame and Rwandan exiles in Uganda ( who later formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front ) , fought in this war for Museveni ' s NRA . Kagame , trained in Tanzania as a spy , became Museveni ' s counter - intelligence chief . NRA ' s bush war began with an attack on an army installation in the central Mubende District on 6 February 1981 . Museveni , who had guerrilla war experience with the Mozambican Liberation Front ( FRELIMO ) in Mozambique , and his own Front for National Salvation ( FRONASA ) formed in Tanzania to fight Idi Amin , campaigned in rural areas hostile to Obote ' s government , especially central and western Buganda and in the regions of Ankole and Bunyoro in western Uganda . Most of the battles were conducted by small mobile units which were designated as " A " Coy commanded by Steven Kashaka , " B " Coy under Joram Mugume , and " C " Coy under Pecos Kuteesa . The commander of these forces was Fred Rwigyema , assisted by Salim Saleh , Museveni ' s brother . There were three small zonal forces – Lutta Unit in the areas of Kapeeka , Kabalega Unit in the areas near Kiwoko , and Nkrumah Unit in the areas of Ssingo . Human rights abuses . Obote ' s UNLA forces retorted in an effort to retaliate against the NRA , resulting in loss of civilian life in the affected areas . UNLA soldiers consisted of many ethnic Acholi and Lango , and although the Acholi and Lango themselves were survivors of Amin ' s genocidal purges in northern Uganda , the soldiers conducted actions reminiscent of Amin ' s . In early 1983 , to eliminate rural support for Museveni ' s guerrillas , the area of Luwero District was targeted for a massive population removal affecting almost 750 , 000 people . The resultant refugee camps were subject to military control , and in many cases human rights abuses . Many civilians outside the camps , in what came to be known as the " Luwero triangle , " were blamed for being guerrilla sympathizers and were treated accordingly . By July 1985 , Amnesty International estimated that the Obote regime had been responsible for more than 300 , 000 civilian deaths across Uganda . NRA , likewise , committed atrocities , including the use of land mine s specifically against civilians . Child soldiers were widely used by the NRA as guerrillas , and also subsequently when NRA became the regular army . UNLA infighting . In the deteriorating military and economic situation , Obote subordinated other matters to a military victory over NRA . North Korean military advisers were invited to take part against the NRA rebels . But the army was war - weary , and after the army Chief of Staff , General Oyite Ojok , died in a helicopter crash at the end of 1983 , UNLA began to split along ethnic lines . Acholi soldiers complained that they were given too much frontline action and too few rewards for their services . Obote further alienated much of the Acholi - dominated officer corps , including the military leaders Lieutenant General Bazilio Olara - Okello and General Tito Okello , by appointing his fellow ethnic Lango , Brigadier Smith Opon Acak , as Chief of Staff , and by giving more prominence to the Lango dominated Special Force Units . On July 27 , 1985 , an army brigade of the UNLA commanded by Olara - Okello , and composed mostly of Acholi troops , staged a coup d ' état against Milton Obote ' s government and seized power . Obote fled to exile . NRA takes power . Before Oyite Ojok died , the NRA was nearly defeated , with Museveni living in exile in Sweden . Following the UNLA infighting and the coup against Obote , the NRA ' s guerrilla war gained momentum . In December 1985 , Tito Okello ' s government signed a peace deal , the Nairobi Agreement , with the NRA . However , the ceasefire broke down almost immediately , and in January 1986 , Salim Saleh commanded NRA ' s assault on Kampala , which eventually led to the demise of Tito Okello ' s regime – with Museveni becoming president . NRA became the national army , and was renamed Uganda People ' s Defence Force ( UPDF ) .