Battle of Kabamba
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Era | Date not recorded (no reliable year in Wikidata) | derived from year |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Uganda | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | -0.2500, 31.1850 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Kabamba (6 February 1981), also known as the First Battle of Kabamba, was the result of an attempt by Popular Resistance Army (PRA) rebels to capture an armoury at the Kabamba Military Barracks, defended by the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) and Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). The battle marked the PRA's entry in the Ugandan Bush War.
The raid was planned by the PRA and another rebel group, the UNLF-AD, to seize weapons in order to start an insurgency against the government of Ugandan President Milton Obote who had assumed power after the disputed December 1980 general election. Despite being prepared through substantial intelligence gathering, the raid faced problems from the start. A part of the rebel strike team, including PRA leader Yoweri Museveni, got delayed. As a result of this delay and a lack of communications, the UNLF-AD militants withdrew, leaving the 34 to 41 PRA fighters to carry out the attack alone. Upon arriving at the Kabamba Military Barracks, the group was unable to deceive or silently subdue two sentries, causing a shootout and alerting the camp. A single Tanzanian soldier consequently took up position at the camp's armoury and defended it, preventing the PRA from capturing it.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Kabamba (revision 1370266490), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Sembabule 1979 · 36 km
- Battle of Masaka 1979 · 62 km
- Battle of Birembo · 75 km
- Battle of Lukaya 1979 · 77 km
- Battle of Mutukula 1979 · 87 km
- Battle of Bukoba 1915 · 139 km
Browse more: battles in Uganda · Africa · Date not recorded battles