Ugandan Bush War

Ugandan Bush War
Part of Cold War
Milton Obote (left) and Yoweri Museveni (right), leaders of the UNLF government forces and National Resistance Army respectively for most of the war.
Date 6 October 1980 – March 1986 Location Uganda Result NRM victory Yoweri Museveni becomes President of Uganda Civil war de facto continues
Belligerents
Ugandan government UNLF/UPC FEDEMU (from 1985) FUNA (from 1985) UNRF (I) (from 1985) UFM (from 1985)  Tanzania (until 1985)  North Korea (1981–1985) Supported by:  Commonwealth of Nations[1]  United Kingdom[1]  Australia (until 1984)[1]  Canada (until 1984)[1]  United States[1]	National Resistance Movement (NRM) PRA UFF West Nile rebels: Uganda Army (1980)[2] UNRF (I) (1980–85)[2] FUNA (1980–85)[2] Nile Regiment[3] UFM (1980–83) FEDEMU (1983–85)[4] ULM[5] UNLF-AD[6] Supported by:  Libya[7]  Soviet Union[8]  Cuba[8]  China[8]  Saudi Arabia (West Nile Rebels only)  Mozambique (alleged)[5]  Tanzania (from 1985) Rwenzururu movement (until 1982) Karamojong groups
Commanders and leaders
Milton Obote Tito Okello David Oyite-Ojok † Smith Opon Acak Bazilio Olara-Okello	National Resistance Army: Yoweri Museveni Salim Saleh Sam Magara † Steven Kashaka Joram Mugume Pecos Kuteesa Fred Rwigyema Yusuf Lule West Nile rebels: Moses Ali Amin Onzi[6] Felix Onama[3] Isaac Lumago[9] Elly Hassan UFM and FEDEMU: Balaki Kirya[10] Andrew Kayiira (POW)[6] David Lwanga[6]
Units involved
Ugandan military Uganda National Liberation Army Conciliated rebel groups Pro-government militias People's Militia National Youth Army Tribal militias UPC youth paramilitaries  Korean People's Army[11]	Numerous rebel militias
Strength
UNLA and allied militias: 15,000+ (1981) 35,000–40,000 (1984) c. 15,000 (late 1985) : 11,000 (until 1980) 800–1,000 (from 1981) c. 50 (1984) : 30+ (1981) c. 50 (1984) 170–700 (1985)	Uganda Army: c. 7,100 (1980)[2] NRA: 900 (Dec. 1981)[12] 4,000 (early 1983)[12] c. 10,000 (late 1985)
Casualties and losses
100,000–500,000 killed

The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.

The unpopular President Milton Obote was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1971 by General Idi Amin, who established a military dictatorship. Amin was overthrown in 1979 following the Uganda-Tanzania War, but his loyalists started the Bush War by launching an insurgency in the West Nile region in 1980. Subsequent elections saw Obote return to power in a UNLA-ruled government. Several opposition groups claimed the elections were rigged, and united as the NRA under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni to start an armed uprising against Obote's government on 6 February 1981. Obote was overthrown and replaced as president by his general Tito Okello in 1985 during the closing months of the conflict. Okello formed a coalition government consisting of his followers and several armed opposition groups, which agreed to a peace deal. In contrast, the NRA refused to compromise with the government, and conquered much of western and southern Uganda in a number of offensives from August to December 1985.

The NRA captured Kampala, Uganda's capital, in January 1986. It subsequently established a new government with Museveni as president, while the UNLA fully disintegrated in March 1986. Obote and Okello went into exile. Despite the nominal end of the civil war, numerous anti-NRA rebel factions and militias remained active, and would continue to fight Museveni's government in the next decades.