Ugandan authorities are actively pursuing rebels who have aligned themselves with the Islamic State after a horrific attack on a school near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo resulted in the killing of numerous children. The police suspect that rebels affiliated with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out the attack, which has sparked outrage and condemnation.
June 17 (UPI) — Reports have emerged that a secondary school in western Uganda was targeted by suspected rebels aligned with the Islamic State, resulting in the deaths of several schoolchildren. Local police in Mpondwe have confirmed that the ADF rebels, based in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, entered Uganda on Friday and attacked Lhubiriha Secondary School, claiming the lives of 25 children. The assailants also set fire to the school’s dormitories and looted the premises. The Ugandan army is currently pursuing the ADF attackers in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At least eight other victims of the attack are in critical condition in a hospital in Bwera, Uganda, according to the police.
Latest reports from the Mpondwe-Lhubiriha border region reveal that a total of 41 bodies, including 38 students, have been recovered from the school. Disturbingly, some of the victims were brutally hacked to death, highlighting the severity of the attack and the cruelty of the assailants, as reported by the BBC.
Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat of the African Union Commission expressed his shock and condemnation of the attack, describing it as a “brutal and cowardly terrorist attack.” The ADF, an armed group primarily operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has pledged allegiance to ISIS and poses a threat to the stability of the region, according to the U.S. Congress. The ADF has been involved in previous acts of violence, including a bombing at a Pentecostal church earlier this year, which claimed the lives of 10 people.
