KAMPALA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has appointed a team of senior military officers to probe the deadly ambush on Sunday by Somali militant group Al-Shabaab that left 12 peacekeepers dead and seven others injured, a spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, the deputy spokesperson of Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), told Xinhua that Chief of Defense Forces Gen. David Muhoozi has appointed Brig. Jack Bakasumba, the commander of the Peace and Support Training Centre, Singo to lead a board of inquiry into circumstances surrounding the fateful incident in southwest Somalia.
The team will work alongside with their African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) counterparts.
"It will work with AMISOM to examine what exactly happened and give its recommendations. Action will be taken then," said Akiiki.
Al-Shabaab militants ambushed the Somalia National Army and UPDF troops on Sunday at Goryowein along Bulu-maler and Beladamin, in Lower Shabelle region, about 140 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu.
Uganda on Monday said the dead and those injured had been evacuated to Mogadishu Level II Hospital.
The bodies of the deceased peacekeepers are expected to be airlifted back to the Uganda during this week, according to Akiiki.
Uganda contributes some 6,500 soldiers to the 22,000 African Union peacekeeping force deployed in Somalia.
