At least 41 killed, children slashed with machetes in brutal militant attack on school in Uganda, worst for a decade
- Dormitories were set on fire and children slashed with knives and machetes in a brutal late-night assault by forces linked to Islamic State group
- It is the deadliest attack in Uganda since 76 people were killed in the twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 by Somalia-based al-Shabab group
Militants linked to Islamic State 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.”
