At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border

Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of 41 people, including 38 students, who were burned, changeable oregon hacked to decease aft suspected rebels attacked a secondary schoolhouse adjacent the borderline with Congo, the section politician said Saturday.

At slightest six radical were abducted by the rebels, who fled crossed the porous borderline into Congo aft the raid connected Friday night, according to the Ugandan military.

Authorities blamed the massacre astatine Lhubiriha Secondary School successful the borderline municipality of Mpondwe connected the Allied Democratic Forces, a shadowy extremist radical with ties to the Islamic State, which has been launching attacks for years from bases successful volatile eastbound Congo.

The victims included the students, 1 defender and 2 members of the section assemblage who were killed extracurricular the school, Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Mayor Selevest Mapoze told The Associated Press.

Mapoze said that immoderate of the students suffered fatal burns erstwhile the rebels acceptable occurrence to a dormitory and others were changeable oregon hacked with machetes.

The raid, which happened astir 11:30 p.m., progressive astir 5 attackers, the Ugandan subject said. Soldiers from a adjacent brigade who responded to the onslaught recovered the schoolhouse connected fire, "with dormant bodies of students lying successful the compound," subject spokesperson Brig. Felix Kulayigye said successful a statement.

That connection cited 47 bodies, with 8 different radical wounded and being treated astatine a section hospital. Ugandan troops are "pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students" who were forced to transportation looted nutrient toward Congo's Virunga National Park, it said.

The school, co-ed and privately owned, is located successful the Ugandan territory of Kasese, astir 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Congo border.

Joe Walusimbi, an authoritative representing Uganda's president successful Kasese, told the AP implicit the telephone that immoderate of the victims "were burnt beyond recognition."

Winnie Kiiza, an influential governmental person and a erstwhile lawmaker from the region, condemned the "cowardly attack" connected Twitter. She said "attacks connected schools are unacceptable and are a sedate usurpation of children's rights," adding that schools should ever beryllium "a harmless spot for each student."

The ADF has been accused of launching galore attacks successful caller years targeting civilians successful distant parts of eastbound Congo. It seldom claims work for attacks.

The ADF has agelong opposed the regularisation of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. information state who has held powerfulness successful this East African state since 1986.

The radical was established successful the aboriginal 1990s by immoderate Ugandan Muslims, who said they had been sidelined by Museveni's policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks successful Ugandan villages arsenic good arsenic successful the capital, including a 1998 onslaught successful which 80 students were massacred successful a municipality not from the country of the latest attack.

A Ugandan subject battle aboriginal forced the ADF into eastbound Congo, wherever galore rebel groups are capable to run due to the fact that the cardinal authorities has constricted power there.

The radical has since established ties with the Islamic State group.

In March , astatine slightest 19 radical were killed successful Congo by suspected ADF extremists.

Ugandan authorities for years person vowed to way down ADF militants adjacent extracurricular Ugandan territory. In 2021, Uganda launched associated aerial and artillery strikes in Congo against the group.