Attack on School in Western Uganda Leaves Dozens Dead and Abducted
At least 37 people were killed and six others abducted in a devastating attack on a school in western Uganda, as reported by authorities on Saturday.
Late Friday, a group of suspected militants launched a raid on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Defense Ministry spokesman Felix Kulayige stated that the assailants, believed to be five rebels, set fire to the school’s campus and plundered its food supplies.
Upon the arrival of military forces at the scene, a horrific sight awaited them. “The school was found burning with dead bodies of students lying in the compound,” said Brigadier General Kulayige in a statement.
The local mayor, Selevest Mapoze, provided an even grimmer account to the Associated Press, claiming that a total of 41 people, including 38 students, had lost their lives. Mapoze explained that some victims succumbed to fatal burns in a dormitory that the attackers had set ablaze, while others were shot or brutally hacked to death with machetes.
According to Kulayige, the suspected attackers belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an extremist group known to have connections with the Islamic State. The ADF operates in Uganda and across the border in Congo. He added that Ugandan forces were actively pursuing the enemy with the objective of rescuing the abducted individuals and dismantling the group.
In a joint effort, law enforcement and the military are conducting a “hot pursuit” of the rebels towards Virunga National Park in Congo, as stated by police spokesman Fred Enanga.
The ADF, initially founded by Ugandan exiles in Congo back in 1995, aimed to overthrow the Ugandan government. In 2020, the United Nations accused the group of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, including abductions, civilian massacres, and the recruitment of child soldiers.
The insurgency became even more deadly with the ADF’s affiliation with the Islamic State group in 2018. The U.S. State Department, designating the ADF as both an Islamic State affiliate and a foreign terrorist organization in 2021, highlighted numerous attacks carried out by the group against civilians, armed forces, and U.N. peacekeepers within Congo’s forests.
