The Uganda-Tanzania War (known as the Kagera War in Tanzania and the 1979 Liberation War in Uganda), was fought from October 1978 until June 1979. Eventually this war resulted in the overthrow of the Ugandan President Idi Amin.

The exact events of the outbreak of war are unclear, but tensions had been building for several years. In October 1978, the Ugandan forces launched an invasion into Tanzania, looting property and killing people. They annexed the Kagera Salient.  On November 2, Tanzania declared war on Uganda and mobilized to retake the Salient, resecuring the Kagera by January 1979 and occupying the Ugandan border town, Mutukula. Shortly after, they occupied the towns of Masaka and Mbarara, in an attempt to create a popular uprising against President Amin. There were no uprisings, and several thousand troops were sent from Libya to aid the Ugandan army. In March, the largest battle occurred when the Tanzanians and Ugandan rebels defeated a Ugandan-Libyan-Palestine force at Lukaya. This resulted in a total collapse of the Ugandan Army.

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