Uganda’s military chief has warned that the African country’s armed forces could enter the war against Iran alongside Israel, after making a series of statements on social media that went viral this week.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba – son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni – who is considered his likely successor, has made a barrage of posts on X this week in support of Israel.
“We stand with Israel because we are Christians,” he wrote, adding in another message: “Uganda is the David whom the world forgot and neglected. We will defeat the giant Goliath.”
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Kainerugaba started his social media blitz with: “We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On Israel’s side!”
According to Uganda, Uganda has 45,000 active soldiers in the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), with about 35,000 reserves. ministry of defense. It is estimated to have approximately 240 tanks and more than 1,000 armored fighting vehicles.
The country is also closely involved militarily in conflict-affected countries. His soldiers are fighting as part of an African Union force against Al-Shabab Islamist terrorists in Somalia. Their army is also still active in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against the Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group ADF.
While Iran is not known to have any interests in Uganda, it has been accused of covert operations in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania, including running smuggling networks and making controversial diplomatic and economic contacts with questionable motives across the region. Although Uganda is landlocked, it is said to be wary of Iran’s strategic interest in gaining a presence in the regional waters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
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General Muhoozi Kainerugaba of the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) attends his military decoration ceremony at the Bombo Military Barracks, in Bombo, Luweero District, Uganda, October 10, 2022. (Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters)
In another post he stated: “Israel was by our side when we were nobody in the 1980s and 1990s. Why not defend her now that our GDP is $100 billion? One of the largest in Africa.”
Israel has trained Ugandan forces in the past, including the general. It is clear that Uganda maintains a strong strategic partnership with Israel, with close security and intelligence ties.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, October 9, 2023. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)
It wasn’t always this way. In 1976, as dictator Idi Amin aggressively opposed Israel, four terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139 en route from Tel Aviv to France. The plane was diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. On the night of July 3, 1976, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a long-range rescue mission, originally codenamed Operation Thunderbolt, to rescue 106 mostly Israeli hostages.
The mission was retroactively renamed Operation Yonatan after the mission’s leader, Lt. Col. Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, the older brother of the current Israeli prime minister, was killed by a Ugandan sniper during the attack. The Israeli soldiers carried out a successful rescue, but four hostages, seven hijackers and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed.
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Kainerugaba announced that, as another gesture of goodwill toward Israel, he plans to have a statue of Yonatan Netanyahu erected at the exact spot at Entebbe airport where he fell. This week, Kainerugaba posted a photo of the statue on X, calling it “a sneak peek.”
