The Uganda Army reported today that 37 people have died victims of the attack on a school in western Uganda committed by alleged members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group with diffuse ties to the Islamic State (IS).
“Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and taken to the Bwera (city) hospital morgue,” Army spokesman Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye said in a statement.
Asked by EFE if all these victims are students, the spokesman responded by telephone with a concise “yes”, without giving any further explanation.
The “terrorist attack” occurred at the Lhubirira school, in the town of Mpondwe, about two kilometers from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Police said in a statement published on their social network account. Twitter.
“A dormitory was burned and a food store was looted. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to the hospital in (the city of) Bwera,” law enforcement said. “Eight victims were also recovered, who remain in critical condition at Bwera hospital,” he said.
The Police also stated that, together with the Ugandan Army, they began an “intense pursuit” of the attackers towards the Congolese Virunga National Park. “We offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who have been killed, and offer our prayers and thoughts to those who have been injured. More details will be released in due course,” the statement added.
The Allied Democratic Forces are a rebel group of Ugandan origin, but are currently based in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and neighboring Ituri, near the border the DRC shares with Uganda. Its objectives are diffuse beyond a possible link with the Islamic State (IS), which sometimes claims responsibility for its attacks.
Although United Nations Security Council experts found no evidence of direct IS support for the ADF, the United States has identified it since March 2021 as “a terrorist organization” affiliated with the jihadist group.
According to the Kivu Security Barometer (KST), the ADF is responsible for at least 3,850 deaths in 730 attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2017.
In addition, the Ugandan authorities have accused the group of organizing attacks inside its territory, including two suicide bombings in Kampala in November 2021 and killings of senior officials by armed motorists.
To put an end to the ADF, the armies of the DRC and Uganda began a joint military operation on Congolese soil in November 2021, which is still ongoing, although the rebel attacks have not stopped.
Since 1998, eastern DRC has been mired in a conflict fueled by rebel militias and the Army, despite the presence of the UN mission in the DRC (Monusco), with some 16,000 uniformed personnel on the ground.
