Uganda Muslim Liberation Army


The Uganda Muslim Liberation Army was a Muslim rebel group in Uganda. Most of its fighters were from the Muslim minority of Baganda, whilst others were non-Baganda Muslims. The group was formed in response to the Museveni government's alleged mistreatment of Muslims in Buganda.

History

The UMLA formally declared war on Yoweri Museveni's Ugandan government in January 1995. In February 1995, the group launched its first military operations near Lake Albert, which failed and resulted in their retreat to Zaire.
Museveni denounced the rebels as Islamic fundamentalists, whose sole purpose was to destabilize the Great Lakes Region as "agents of NIF government". The self-proclaimed purpose of the UMLA was to topple Museveni's government and stop the alleged mistreatment of Muslims in Buganda by them. The UMLA claimed that Museveni's National Resistance Army had committed war crimes and massacres against Muslims during the Ugandan Bush War, a claim which Museveni denies.
The UMLA merged with the Allied Democratic Movement, remnants of the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda and followers of the Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat to form the Allied Democratic Forces in 1996, allegedly with the assistance of the Sudanese government. Despite not waging a significant insurgency, the group was a primary focus of bitter relations between the Sudanese and Ugandan governments.