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Al-Shabaab executes captured Ugandan soldier
Al-Shabaab fighters
Kampala- Al-Shabaab insurgents have released a video of a purported execution of a Ugandan soldier they captured and took as a prisoner-of-war in August last year. The soldier, only identified as Masasa, was captured during an attack on the Ugandan Military base in Somalia.
According to the Voice of America, the insurgents forced Pte Masasa to make a statement saying Ugandan soldiers went to Somalia “just for the money” before he was shot twice in the head.
The soldier goes ahead to tell Ugandan soldiers to stay in their country and not to deploy to Somalia. “It’s possible to get a salary even back in Uganda,” he says in the video.
This is the third video the insurgents are releasing after his capture. The first two videos were released last year when he made an emotional appeal to President Museveni to rescue him.
In the second video, Pte Masasa sent greetings to his wife Eva Achan and children.
The army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, said last year they were studying the video to take action.
After the attack on Janaale UPDF base, the outgoing Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, set up a board of inquiry chaired by Brig Jack Bakasumba, which found out that the commanders didn’t handle the operational requirements well.
The inquiry also found that the Janaale UPDF defensive position, manned by 200 UPDF troops, was overwhelmed by the Al Shabaab attackers who were estimated to be between 350 and 500 in number.
