The Battle of Mutukula marked the first major Tanzanian offensive ground action inside Uganda during the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1979.
Key Facts
- Date
- 21–22 January 1979
- Tanzanian unit
- 208th Brigade
- Ugandan units
- Gondo and Suicide Battalions
- Duration
- 2 days
- Outcome
- Tanzanian victory; Ugandan garrison fled
- Aftermath
- Tanzanians razed Mutukula in reprisal
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following their successful repulsion of Uganda's 1978 invasion of the Kagera Salient, Tanzanian commanders remained concerned that Ugandan forces occupying high ground at Mutukula, a border town, continued to pose a strategic threat to Tanzanian territory.
On the night of 21 January 1979, Tanzania's 208th Brigade crossed the Uganda–Tanzania border and encircled Mutukula. The following morning it launched its assault; the Ugandan garrison, comprising the Gondo and Suicide Battalions, fled without mounting a sustained defense.
With the Ugandan garrison driven off, Tanzanian forces seized and then razed the town of Mutukula in retaliation for the destruction Ugandan troops had inflicted during their earlier incursion into the Kagera region.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent