The operation was launched by the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) on 15 April 1979 to secure eastern Uganda and oust UA remnants which were still active in the area.

[4][5] The Ugandan President and many of his forces fled to the eastern city of Jinja;[6] thousands of Uganda Army soldiers reportedly retreated eastward from Kampala.

However, the Tanzanians were under public pressure to advance against Jinja, as the town hosted the Owen Falls Dam which generated hydroelectric power, supplying electricity to all of Uganda and portions of Kenya.

[13] The Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Battalion descended into internal fighting,[14] and much of its remaining forces including its commander Hussein Mohammed fled to Kenya.

[20] They had been marginalized and driven off their lands by the Ugandan, Sudanese, and Kenyan governments; increasingly forced into smaller territories with fewer resources and attacked by other cattle herders, most importantly Turkana, the Karamojong became more prone to banditry and inter-communal fighting.

[21] When Amin's government fell apart in 1979, the Uganda Army troops stationed in Karamoja feared the Karamojong's fierce reputation as warriors, causing them to flee and leave much weaponry behind.

[19] The escalating violence resulted in serious issues for local society, as the young raiders took their newly acquired wealth in form of cattle into the bush[19] to keep it safe,[23] leaving the old people behind.

[27] The combined TPDF-UNLA force was able to requisition numerous vehicles in Kampala when it departed the city on 15 April, but had to share them among different groups of soldiers as it moved down the two-lane road toward Jinja.

Even though progress was slow due to the lack of adequate vehicles, the TPDF-UNLA force encountered no resistance on its way to Jinja,[24] with the troops instead relaxing, listenining to music from looted radios, and eating Sugarcane along the way.

Hundreds of civilians from road-adjacent communities such as Mukono, Seta, Namataba, and Lugazi joined the column, intermingling with the soldiers and helping to carry equipment.

[7] When the Tanzanian-led force eventually arrived in Jinja's vicinity, it received widely diverging reports by locals about how many Uganda Army soldiers were left garrisoning the Owen Falls Dam as well as the city.

[28] For the most part, the TPDF-UNLA force encountered little resistance,[29] as most of the Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Battalion had fled beforehand[30] and the remainder mostly melted away soon after the battle's start.

The truck quickly stopped and five Uganda Army soldiers with female companions leapt out, successfully escaping into the nearby bush despite being targeted by the Tanzanians with machine gun fire.

[18] Some TPDF troops continued their march from Tororo to the border town of Busia, encountering a truck with fleeing UA soldiers on the way.

Most of the renegade Uganda Army soldiers were subsequently sent to Kampala, but Malinga and a few other officers stayed with the Tanzanians to assist in the advance to Moroto and Soroti.

Just as the TPDF tank crews were awakening, their position came under small arms and recoilless rifle fire by the Uganda Army loyalists.

In contrast, Mwandetelle was unsure about how to proceed, as the Amin loyalists had retreated to Soroti and he had no idea whether enemy forces might be setting up ambushes.

While he and other 7th Battalion discussed their future actions, three local boys approached them and reported that six armed but tired Amin loyalists were walking at a nearby path.

[36] Within fifty minutes, the 7th Battalion was following the same path, led by the boys; they initially found no sign of the Amin loyalists, but inhabitants of a nearby hut reported that the Uganda Army soldiers had seemingly moved into a local swamp.

After half an hour, they returned; Malinga reported that he had found only ten Amin loyalists who had informed him that all other troops were fleeing to Sudan.

[39] On the way, they encountered only a bus which had crashed –with eight dead Amin loyalists inside– and some civilians who claimed to have found a State Research Bureau (SRB) agent.

Instead of checking the information, the Tanzanian soldiers shot up the house where the agent was allegedly hiding, only to discover that it was occupied by three women and nine children who had "miraculously" survived unharmed.

Having been informed by local villagers that Amin loyalists might be staying there, Mwandetelle ordered his BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers to shoot over the small town to scare any possible enemies into fleeing.

One night, the column entered the small town of Namalu, and the three leading Tanzanian tanks almost ran into a car and a Land Rover which were driven by Uganda Army soldiers.

[48] As it got further north, the 24th Battalion increasingly encountered Karamojong; as the nomads opposed Amin's regime, they welcomed the Tanzanians and offered to help with their advanced intelligence network.

In this way, the 24th Battalion learned that a group of 12 Uganda Army loyalists, armed with at least one 106-mm recoilless rifle, had unsuccessfully attempted to flee to Kenya before setting up an ambush for the TPDF at a mountain pass near Nakapiripirit.

[17] In the next months, a few Uganda Army soldiers continued to roam Karamoja, stealing cattle and adding to the general insecurity in the region.

[19] To do so, he first gained the Karamojong traders' trust by offering to take their money and use it to buy food in the south, while using the 24th Battalion as intermediary to safely transport both the cash as well as the supplies.

Besides Karamojong militias and Uganda Army remnants, "Malire from Ethiopia, Terposa from Sudan, Turcanas from Kenya, Somali bandits" had become active in the area.

[54] The TPDF withdrew from Uganda in 1981,[55] leaving an unstable and weak UNLF government in power which was unable to bring the country's armed groups under control.