He was the only survivor of a night-time military operation on Tuesday against a unit of the feared Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) that killed six other fighters, the army said.

A Briton and a South African were murdered along with their guide in an attack on Oct 17 while on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Uganda blamed the ADF, an armed militia based in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo that is affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group.

The IS later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had killed “three Christian tourists”.

Uganda’s deputy military spokesman Deo Akiiki told AFP that the unit commander, identified only as Njovu, had been injured in the back during a gunbattle on Tuesday.

“This was a successful joint military intelligence-led operation and the whole squad that had been sent by the ADF to cause mayhem, kill tourists, burn schools, and hospitals, was eliminated,” Akiiki said.