KAMPALA: In the country’s worst such attack in years, at least 41 people were massacred and six others abducted by militants linked to the Islamic State group in western Uganda, the army said on Saturday.

Officials said dormitories were locked and set alight and students cut down with knives in the grisly late-night assault on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Police and army officials blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the deadliest militias over the border in DR Congo’s strife-torn east, which the Islamic State group has called its local offshoot.

It is the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 in a strike claimed by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group, while 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories and more than 100 students abducted in a similar attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute by ADF near the Dr Congo border in June 1998.

Forces pursuing perpetrators to rescue students taken towards Virunga National Park

Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye earlier said: “Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and conveyed to Bwera hospital mortuary.”

He said eight people were injured and six others kidnapped and taken towards Virunga National Park, a vast expanse that straddles the border.

“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students,” he said.

Joe Walusimbi, resident commissioner for the district of Kasese where the attack occurred, earlier told AFP that at least 25 of the deceased were students at the school. Police did not release details of their ages or how many of them were students.

Outside the school, heavily armed soldiers and police stood guard, where a large crowd gathered and distraught survivors were comforted by loved ones.

‘Big attack’

According to a police report seen by AFP, police and military units were alerted to a ‘big attack’ at the school around 11pm on Friday. “On arrival, the school was found burning and the bodies of students were found lying in the compound and the school’s food store broken into” with items missing, the report stated.

The school is less than two kilometres from the border of the DR Congo, where ADF is primarily active and has been accused of killing thousands of civilians since the 1990s.

Major General Dick Olum said intelligence had suggested the ADF presence in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong. It appeared the attackers had detailed information about the school, he said.

“They knew where the boys’ and girls’ dormitories resided,” said Olum from Mpondwe, who has been leading an army operation against the ADF in Uganda and the DR Congo.

“This is why the rebels locked the boys’ dormitory and set it on fire. The rebels did not lock girls’ section and the girls managed to get out, but they were cut with machetes as they ran for safety, and others shot”.

He said some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and DNA testing would be required to identify them.

“We have called for more firepower, planes to help in the rescue operation of those abducted, and locating the rebel hideouts for military action,” he said.

Uganda and DR Congo laun­ched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Con­golese strongholds, but the measures have failed.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023