West Nile campaign (October 1980)
In October 1980, Uganda's West Nile Region was the site of a major military campaign, as Uganda Army (UA) remnants invaded from Zaire as well as Sudan and seized several major settlements, followed by a counteroffensive by the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) supported by militias and Tanzanian forces. The campaign resulted in large-scale destruction and massacres of civilians, mostly perpetrated by the UNLA and allied militants, with 1,000 to 30,000 civilians killed and 250,000 displaced. The clashes mark the beginning of the Ugandan Bush War.
Idi Amin (pictured 1975) helped to finance the Uganda Army's invasion of October 1980.
The Uganda Army, also known as Uganda Armed Forces, served as the national armed forces of Uganda during the dictatorship of Idi Amin (1971–1979). It mostly collapsed during the Uganda–Tanzania War, but remnants continued to operate in exile from 1979. These pro-Amin rebel forces continued to be called the "Uganda Army" and maintained a semblance of cohesion until 1980, when they fully fractured into rival factions.
A Uganda Army OT-64 SKOT armoured personnel carrier during a military parade in Kampala in the late 1960s
Idi Amin (left), dressed in military fatigues, visiting Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1977
The Uganda Army's morale was connected to Idi Amin's ability to provide the troops with rewards such as scotch whisky (examples pictured).
Uganda Army OT-64 APCs, Ferret armoured cars, and jeeps in the late 1960s
