Islamists Kill Dozens of Students In Uganda
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KAMPALA (Worthy News) – Islamic militants linked to the Islamic State terror group have killed at least 40 people at a school in western Uganda, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks to hit the East African nation in years, officials confirmed Saturday.
After the attack on Lhubiriha secondary school in Mpondwe, at least eight survivors reportedly remained in critical condition.
A dormitory at the school was burnt, and a food store was looted during the incident, authorities said.
Major General Dick Olum from the Ugandan Army revealed disturbing details, saying some of the boys were burnt or hacked to death, and others, especially the girls, were abducted.
While not officially mentioned yet, it was believed that there were many Christians among the dead.
More than 80 percent of Uganda’s 48 million population are religious Christians, according to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a Ugandan group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with ties to the Islamic State group, have been blamed for Friday’s attack.
ARMY SEARCH
Ugandan officials said the army and the police were pursuing the militants who attacked the school near the Virunga National Park, a thick forest home to endangered mountain gorillas.
The military said they were also working to free those who had been abducted. It was not immediately clear how many people, including girls, the militants had kidnapped.
“Our forces are pursuing the enemy to rescue those abducted and destroy this group,” Ugandan defense spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said on the social media platform Twitter.
The attack is the worst the group ADF has carried out in Uganda since late 2021, when suicide bombers set off coordinated explosions in the capital, Kampala, that killed three people, observers said.
Since then, the Ugandan government, in cooperation with the Congolese government, launched an offensive against the ADF in an attempt to destroy the group at its bases in eastern Congo.
Militias, including the ADF, also use the vast expanse, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, as a hideout, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The group’s objectives include the overthrow of the Ugandan government, the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and the imposition of ‘Sharia,’ or Islamic law.
Experts say that the ADF also seeks to create a haven for other extremist groups in the region, such as Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram.
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