5,000 former Amin rebels to join UPDF, says Gen. Taban

Aug 07, 2005

OVER 5,000 West Nile Bank Front (WNBF) former combatants are to be integrated into the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), Maj. Gen Taban Amin has said.

OVER 5,000 West Nile Bank Front (WNBF) former combatants are to be integrated into the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), Maj. Gen Taban Amin has said, writes Frank Mugabi.

Amin said the group includes tank instructors and the artillery and anti aircraft crew with military and guerrilla experience of over 20 years.

Amin, son of former president Idi Amin, was the commander-in-chief of the WNBF, a rebel group that had formerly established bases in DR Congo. The conflict ended under a peace agreement and the rebels were offered amnesty.

Amin said he was in contact with his 14,300 former troops, most of whom are resettled in the West Nile sub-region and that many had shown interest in joining the UPDF. He said some would be shaped into a reserve force and the rest would form a taskforce for the Movement.

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