Battle of Lukaya

Battle of Lukaya
Part of the Uganda-Tanzania War
Date 10-12 March 1979 Location Lukaya, Uganda Result Decisive Tanzanian Victory
Belligerents
Tanzania	Uganda  Libya
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Units involved
201st Brigade 208th Brigade	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	Uganda: Unknown  Libya: 15 T-55 tanks 12 APCs BM-21 MRLs
Casualties and losses
100-200+ killed	: 200+ killed : 200+ soldiers killed

The Battle of Lukaya was a battle in the Uganda-Tanzania War. The battle was fought between the 10th–12th March 1979 in Lukaya, Tanzania. On one side was Uganda who was supported by soldiers from their major ally Libya and on the other side was Tanzania.

Background

Lukaya was Amin’s primary axis of defence while the secondary axis of defence was through Kalungu-Villa Maria. In his bid to retake Masaka and stabilise the frontline, before launching an offensive to drive the Tanzanian's backwards into their own country, the area between Buganga and Lukaya was declared a concentration and assembly point for his forces, so that they could regroup and gather their strength before counterattacking. Unfortunately for the Ugandan Army, this location was easily in range of Tanzanian artillery. TPDF deployed a brigade of infantry in reserve to defend the town, and had the other TPDF brigades taking position at different points in the surrounding countryside to prepare for an attack that could be launched from multiple directions.

The Battle

A convoy of hundreds of Libyan soldiers equipped with 15 T-55 tanks, 12 APCs, plus BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers were part of Amin’s plan to recapture Masaka and then drive the TPDF out of Uganda. On 10 March, the Libyans smashed into the 201st Brigade starting a rout among the troops of the Tanzanian brigade, which led to the entire brigade retreating to Masaka. The 201st Brigade then later regrouped and counterattacked with 208th Brigade supporting them. The TPDF fought the Libyans until on the 12th March the TPDF broke through the Libyan battle lines.^[1]

Aftermath

Around 200 Libyan soldiers and 200 Ugandan soldiers were killed in the battle of Lukaya, whereas the Tanzanian army overall fared much better, despite losing many men when the 201st brigade was routed by the Libyan Army; the TPDF received few casualties during its counterattack against the Libyans and Ugandans. The Battle of Lukaya is seen by many as a turning point in the war, as Amin's forces were defeated and sent into retreat leaving the capital Kampala exposed and preventing a counterattack against the TPDF.

References