KAMPALA, June 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been 
killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said Sunday, part of the ongoing 
fight against the Al-Shabaab militant group.

The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission 
in Somalia (AUSSOM) tasked with combating Al-Shabaab.

Recent attacks have stoked fears of jihadist resurgence in the Horn of Africa 
nation, especially coming as AUSSOM struggles with insufficient troops and 
funding shortfalls.

The losses came during a three-day siege over a town in the Lower Shabelle 
region, a Ugandan defence ministry statement said, adding the town was 
recaptured from Al-Shabaab.

"Unfortunately we lost seven soldiers during the battle," Ugandan People's 
Defence Force spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP.

AUSSOM, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, currently has 11,146 
soldiers -- although it stated in April it required an additional 8,000.

Somalia has long struggled with the violent Islamist insurgency, although the 
Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by 
Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.

Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organisation's 
resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's 
convoy in capital Mogadishu in March.