Today in History: NRA Ambushes Government Forces at Katonga

What the report says

Nile Post looks back at the Battle of Katonga, a key episode in the Ugandan Bush War that it says took place on 13 October 1985. The report says National Resistance Army (NRA) fighters, operating under the command of Salim Saleh, prepared defensive positions around the Katonga River bridge and nearby areas including Kayabwe and Lukaya to block government troops moving along the Kampala-Masaka highway.

According to the article, the confrontation mattered because control of the bridge would decide whether the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) could reach government garrisons in the southwest, especially in Masaka and Mbarara. The NRA’s First Battalion and elements of the Fifth Battalion held the bridgehead and flanks, while government forces supported by infantry, artillery and armoured vehicles launched an assault. Nile Post says the attack was met by an ambush that inflicted heavy losses and forced the troops to leave equipment behind.

The publisher presents the battle as part of a broader NRA offensive between September and December 1985 aimed at cutting off government supply lines and weakening the military government then led by General Tito Okello. It also notes that the fighting added pressure on ceasefire efforts and talks in Nairobi. In the wider historical context, the NRA later captured Kampala in January 1986, bringing Yoweri Museveni to power.