At least 41 people were killed by rebel extremists in a brutal attack on a school in Uganda near the border with Congo, officials said.
The mayor of Mpondwe, Uganda, said Saturday morning that authorities had recovered the bodies of 41 people, including 38 students, who were burned, shot or hacked to death in an attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School. The Ugandan military said at least six other people were abducted and believed to have been taken across the border into Congo, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said the perpetrators were the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist extremist group with ties to ISIS, which has been launching terrorist attacks throughout the region from bases in the volatile Congo.
The victims included the students, one guard and two members of the local community who were killed outside the school, Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Mayor Selevest Mapoze told The Associated Press.
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Video footage shows Ugandan security forces as they drive past a crowd of people gathered outside the Lhubiriha Secondary School following an attack on the school near the border with Congo, in Mpondwe, Uganda, Saturday, June 17, 2023. Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of at least 41 people who were killed in the attack by an Islamist extremist group. (AP Photo)
Mapoze said that some of the students suffered fatal burns when the rebels set fire to a dormitory and others were shot or hacked with machetes.
About five attackers carried out the raid, which happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday night, according to the Ugandan military. Soldiers from a nearby brigade were dispatched to the scene.
In this image made from video, people make their way towards the Lhubiriha Secondary School following an attack on the school near the border with Congo, in Mpondwe, Uganda, Saturday, June 17, 2023. Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of dozens of people including students who were burned, shot or hacked to death after suspected rebels attacked the school, the local mayor said Saturday. (AP Photo) (AP Photo)
“On arrival, the school was found burning with dead bodies of students lying in the compound with the school food store broken into, posho and beans taken,” military spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye said in a statement.
The statement indicated 37 bodies were recovered and taken to a local mortuary, while eight survivors were transported to a nearby hospital. Three people were rescued alive and six were abducted, the military said.
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This image made from video shows the sign of the Lhubiriha Secondary School following an attack on the school near the border with Congo, in Mpondwe, Uganda Saturday, June 17, 2023. Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of dozens of people including students who were burned, shot or hacked to death after suspected rebels attacked the school, the local mayor said Saturday, June 17, 2023. (AP Photo) (AP Photo)
“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students whom they used to carry the looted food towards Virunga National Park,” Kulayigye said.
Lhubiriha Secondary School is a private, co-ed school located in the Ugandan district of Kasese, about 1.2 miles from the Congo border.
Joe Walusimbi, an official representing Uganda’s president in Kasese, told the AP that some of the victims “were burnt beyond recognition.”
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has been linked to several recent mass killings in Uganda and Congo.
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In this image made from video, security forces are seen outside the gate of the Lhubiriha Secondary School following an attack on the school near the border with Congo, in Mpondwe, Uganda, Saturday, June 17, 2023. Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of dozens of people including students who were burned, shot or hacked to death after suspected rebels attacked the school, the local mayor said Saturday. (AP Photo) (AP Photo)
ADF opposes the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. ally who has maintained power in the East African country since 1986.
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The Islamic group was blamed for slaughtering 19 people in Kirindera town, Carly Nzanzu in March, just days after 36 people were massacred in Mukondi village in North Kivu province, according to Congo officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
