A week later, Uganda acknowledged the deaths of several of its soldiers in an attack by Somalia's al-Shabaab on a military base in Somalia a week ago, with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announcing Saturday that 54 Ugandan soldiers had been killed in the attack.
Local sources have reported that al-Shabaab attacked on May 26 a camp in the city of "Bulo Murir", 110 kilometers south of the capital Mogadishu in the Lower Shabelle region, a camp where units of Ugandan forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are stationed.
Al-Shabaab said in a statement that day it had carried out suicide attacks and killed 137 soldiers, while there were no official statements from the Somali government or AMISOM on the casualties caused by the attack.
Uganda acknowledged the attack on the day by UPDF deputy spokesman Dieu Akike, but gave no details, saying it was waiting for an official call from AMISOM, while the latter said on Twitter that it was "assessing the security situation" without elaborating.
Two days after the attack, the United States launched an airstrike in Somalia that it said targeted weapons and equipment belonging to al-Shabaab near the military base that was attacked.
The US Africa Command said in a statement that it had "destroyed weapons and equipment illegally seized by al-Shabaab fighters," without specifying when and from where the weapons were stolen.