Ugandan security officials say suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group killed 41 students and left eight injured late Friday night at the Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, in western Uganda’s Kasese district, near the Congo border.
According to Ugandan security and district officials, other locals in the region were also killed. The rebels torched two dormitories in the school and looted a food store during the attack.
Muhindi Bukonjo Eriphazi, the district chairman, detailed the attack to VOA, saying, “They killed 24 students and 17 other students’ bodies burned. That’s a total of around 41, we have eight causalities.”
Eriphazi said the injured included six students, a teacher and an elderly woman who reported that her husband and mother-in-law also were killed. Three children are suspected of having been abducted. Two other survivors are at a nearby health facility.
"The wanainchi [ordinary citizens] were able to arrest two rebels who had knives, and one of them has been caught this morning at customs - Mpondwe. And this one, the wanainchi decided to put him out of action.”
The Allied Democratic Forces rebel group is aligned with the Islamic State group, and previously carried out attacks in Uganda. The attack was carried out 2 kilometers from the Congo border and close to the Virunga National Park.
Defense spokesman Brigadier General Felix Kulaigye spoke with VOA about what authorities are doing now.
“This is a signature of ADF. And the army has inserted a force to pursue so that we rescue those who are abducted. Secondly, the president has dispatched the minister of education to go and commiserate with the school community. And then the CDF [commander, defense forces] and commander, land forces, are going on the ground today to do an on-the-spot assessment.”
This is the first ADF attack on a school in 25 years. In June 1998, the ADF attacked Kichwamba National Technical Institute in Kabarole district, killing 58 students. At the time, students had locked themselves in a dormitory to avoid being abducted and the rebels retaliated by setting the dormitory on fire. Close to 100 students were then taken.
The Allied Democratic Forces, whose founder Jamil Mukulu has been imprisoned since 2015, operate in the Rwenzuru mountains in Uganda and Congo. The group has been fighting against the Ugandan government since 1996.
