President confirms Ugandan army battling South Sudanese rebels

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has acknowledged the Ugandan army has actively fought alongside South Sudanese government forces battling rebel forces. Some Ugandan forces were killed and wounded, Museveni said, in a clash with rebel troops a day before the Ugandan parliament approved their deployment, the Sudan Tribune reported Thursday. The Ugandan army had denied any involvement in the fighting. Addressing heads of state Wednesday at a conference in Angola, Museveni said the Ugandan casualties occurred in a clash Monday with the forces of ousted South Sudan vice president Riek Machar about 55 miles outside of South Sudan's capital Juba. He said Ugandan forces "inflicted a big loss on the side of the rebels. We also took casualties and had some dead." Machar claimed Tuesday his forces defeated a combined South Sudan-Uganda force backed by helicopter gunships, dozens of tanks and other heavy artillery. He has denounced the involvement of Ugandan troops and made their withdrawal from the country a condition for a cease-fire. The Obama administration on Wednesday confirmed the Ugandan's army involvement in the conflict. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant U.S. secretary of state for African Affairs, told a congressional hearing Uganda wanted to protect certain structures vital to the flow of goods and people between Uganda and the Juba airport. "They indicated they have an interest in a stable South Sudan but also said they have an interest in ensuring that a democratically elected government is not overturned by violent means," she said in response to a question by Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas.