The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's overthrow of President Milton Obote , who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war are not clear, and differing accounts of the events exist. In October , Ugandan forces began making incursions into Tanzania. Later that month, the Uganda Army launched an invasion , looting property and killing civilians.
Ugandan official media declared the annexation of the Kagera Salient. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation also sent a number of guerrillas to aid Amin. In March the largest battle of the war occurred when the Tanzanians and Ugandan rebels defeated a combined Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force at Lukaya. The loss of Lukaya led the Uganda Army to begin to collapse.
Nyerere believed that Ugandan rebels should be given time to organise their own government to succeed Amin. Libya ended its intervention in early April and its troops left the country. Amin fled into exile while a UNLF government was established.
It secured the UgandaβSudan border in June, bringing the war to an end. The war severely harmed Tanzania's fragile economy and inflicted long-lasting damage to Kagera.
