Amin was born in kobko in what is now northwest Uganda to a

kawak father and lungbara mother. In 1946, he joined the king’s

African Ri es (KAR) of the British Colonial Army as a cook. He rose
to the rank of lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali
rebels and then the mau mau uprising in Kenya. Uganda gained
independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, and Amin
remained in the army, rising to the position of major and being
appointed commander of the Uganda Army in 1965. He became
aware that Ugandan President Milton Obote was planning to arrest
him for misappropriating army funds, so he launched the 1971
Uganda coup defeat and declared himself president.

During his years in power, Amin shifted from being a pro-Western

ruler enjoying considerable support from Israel to being backed by
Libya 's mummer Gadda , Zaire's Mobutu sese seko , the Soviet
Union , and east In 1972, Amin expelled asian a majority of whom
were Indians - Ugandans leading India to sever diplomatic relations
with his regime.In 1975, Amin became the chairman of the
organisation of Africa unions (OAU), a pan africanist group
designed to promote solidarity among African states. Uganda was a
member of the united nation commissions of human rights from
1977 to 1979.The UK broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in
1977, and Amin declared that he had defeated the British and
added "CBE" to his title for "Conqueror of the British Empire".

As Amin's rule progressed into the late 1970s, there was increased
unrest against his persecution of certain ethnic groups and political
dissidents, along with Uganda's very poor international standing
due to Amin's support for the terrorist hijackers in operation Entebbe
He then attempted to annex Tanzania's kagera region in 1978. The
Tanzanian president Julie's Nyerere ordered his troops to invade
Uganda in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully
captured Kampala in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Amin went
into exile, rst in Libya, then Iraq, and nally in Saudi Arabia, where
he lived until his death in 2003.

Amin's rule was characterised by rampant human rights abuses ,

including political repression , ethic persecution and extrajudicial
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killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic
mismanagement. International observers and human rights groups
estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed
under his regime.