Rebels attack Uganda school near DRC border, killing 25

World
By William

Police in Uganda say at least 25 people have been killed in a suspected rebel attack on a school near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan group based in eastern DRC that has pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group, attacked Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, burned a dormitory and looted food late Friday , the police said on Saturday.

The Lhubiriha School, which is privately owned, is located in the Ugandan district of Kasese, about two kilometers from the DRC border.

“So far, 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital. Eight victims have also been recovered, who remain in critical condition at Bwera Hospital,” the Ugandan police said on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were students.

Ugandan defense spokesman Felix Kulayigye said on Saturday that his troops pursued the attackers with the aim of rescuing the abductees.

The local newspaper Daily Monitor had reported, citing unnamed security sources, that the attackers kidnapped “several” others before fleeing.

Earlier, police said they were chasing the attackers, who fled towards Virunga National Park in the DRC.

Joe Walusimbi, an official representing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kasese, told The Associated Press over the phone that authorities were trying to verify the number of victims and abductees.

“All the deaths so far have been confirmed to be students of the school,” he said. “Some bodies were burned beyond recognition.”

Winnie Kiiza, an influential former politician from the region and opposition leader, condemned the “cowardly attack” on Twitter.

She said: “Attacks against schools are unacceptable and a serious violation of children’s rights”, adding that schools should always be “a safe place for every student”.

The ADF has been accused of carrying out numerous attacks against civilians in recent years, particularly against civilian communities in remote parts of eastern DRC. In April, the group was blamed for an attack there that killed at least 20 people.

Ugandan authorities have promised for years to hunt down ADF fighters “at home and abroad”.

The group is said to have been responsible for killing 36 people in March during a night attack on the village of Mukondi, in eastern DRC.

Ugandan authorities also blamed the group for deadly suicide bombings in the capital Kampala in 2021 and launched joint air and artillery strikes in the DRC against the group.

The ADF, considered a “terrorist” group by the United States, is believed to be the deadliest of dozens of armed militias roaming the mineral-rich east of the DRC.

In 1995, the ADF was formed by a coalition of rebels – including the Uganda Muslim Liberation Army and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU) – to fight against the Museveni government.

Over the years, the group has been supported by subsequent DRC governments bent on undermining Rwandan and Ugandan influence in the country.

But in 2013, the ADF began attacking Congolese military targets, prompting the army to fight back. As a result, its leader Jamil Mululu fled to Tanzania in 2015, where he was arrested and extradited to his home country to face terrorism charges.

In recent years, the ADF has been associated with the armed group ISIL, calling itself the Madina in Tauheed Wau Mujahideen – City of Monotheism and the Holy Warriors (MTM).

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