37 Uganda pupils burned to death
Published: 04:06 PM,Jun 17,2023 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 17,2023
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Mpondwe: Militants linked to the IS group hacked and burned 37 students to death in western Uganda in the country’s worst such attack in over a decade, army and police officials said on Saturday.
The army said it was pursuing militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) after the cross-border raid late on Friday on a secondary school in Mpondwe in Kasese district near the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Investigators said dormitories were set alight and students cut down with knives in a brutal late-night assault by ADF, which is one of the deadliest groups active in DR Congo’s strife-torn east.
“Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and conveyed to Bwera hospital mortuary,” Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement, referring to a town near where the attack occurred.
Eight people were injured while six others were kidnapped and taken by the attackers toward Virunga National Park, which straddles the DR Congo border, he added.
“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.” The Resident Commissioner for Kasese, Joe Walusimbi, said that at least 25 of the deceased were “confirmed to be students at the school”.
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 Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe on Friday.
“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 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 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.
“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. — AFP
The army said it was pursuing militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) after the cross-border raid late on Friday on a secondary school in Mpondwe in Kasese district near the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Investigators said dormitories were set alight and students cut down with knives in a brutal late-night assault by ADF, which is one of the deadliest groups active in DR Congo’s strife-torn east.
“Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and conveyed to Bwera hospital mortuary,” Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement, referring to a town near where the attack occurred.
Eight people were injured while six others were kidnapped and taken by the attackers toward Virunga National Park, which straddles the DR Congo border, he added.
“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.” The Resident Commissioner for Kasese, Joe Walusimbi, said that at least 25 of the deceased were “confirmed to be students at the school”.
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 Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe on Friday.
“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 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 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.
“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. — AFP