Militants who have been linked to the Islamic State group on Saturday massacred no fewer than 41 people, mostly students, in western Uganda, in the country’s deadliest such attack in over a decade, officials have confirmed.
The military said it was pursuing the attackers from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who also abducted six people during a raid on a school late Friday before fleeing back towards the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Officials and witnesses said guns and knives were used in a grisly late-night assault and dormitories set ablaze at Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe.
Police and army officials blamed the 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.
Sylvester Mapozi, the town council mayor of Mpondwe-Lhubiriha where the attack occurred, said 39 students were killed at the school.
“Within the community, as they (attackers) were going back, they also murdered two people, a female and a male. This is bringing up the number to 41,” he said.
Many of the deceased were burned beyond recognition while other students were still unaccounted for, he said: “We are yet to identify and establish their whereabouts.”
Mumbere Edgar Dido, 16, said the attackers arrived at his dormitory carrying machetes and guns and opened fire from outside, sending everyone diving under their beds.
“They continued to shoot through the windows, then set fire to our room while we were inside, before going to the girls’ dormitory,” he said.
Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the six kidnapped were taken towards Virunga National Park, a vast expanse which straddles the border.
“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.”
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Africa Today News, New York reports that police have not released details about the victims’ ages or how many 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.
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.
According to a police report seen by AFP, police and military units were alerted to a “big attack” at the school around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday evening.
“On arrival the school was found burning and the dead 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 (1.2 miles) 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 told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong.
He said it appeared the attackers had detailed information about the school.
“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”.
“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.
The rebels fled towards Virunga on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, a globally renowned sanctuary for rare species including mountain gorillas.