Militant attack in Western Uganda claims 25 lives, including children: police

An overnight assault on a school in western Uganda by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic State-aligned militia, has resulted in the loss of twenty-five lives, including children. The national police spokesman, Fred Enanga, confirmed the incident on Saturday, describing it as a “terrorist attack.”

Enanga revealed that the ADF, known to be based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, targeted a secondary school in Mpondwe late Friday night. The assailants set fire to a dormitory and looted the school’s food store. Tragically, the bodies of twenty-five victims have been recovered from the school premises and transported to Bwera Hospital, located in a nearby town close to the Congolese border. Among the deceased are both boys and girls.

Additionally, Enanga informed the public that eight individuals remain in critical condition at Bwera Hospital. He assured the community that the army and police units are actively pursuing the attackers, who fled in the direction of Virunga National Park across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Virunga National Park, renowned as a sanctuary for rare species like mountain gorillas, serves as a hiding place for various militias active in the eastern region of the Congo.

The ADF, originally insurgents in Uganda, established a presence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1990s and has since been accused of perpetrating numerous civilian killings, amounting to thousands of deaths. Some ADF attacks in eastern Congo have been claimed by the Islamic State group since 2019, referring to the fighters as a local offshoot known as the Islamic State Central Africa Province.

Tragically, this is not the first time the ADF has targeted a school in Uganda. In June 1998, an ADF assault on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border resulted in the deaths of 80 students who were burned to death in their dormitories. Additionally, more than 100 students were abducted during that attack.

In an effort to eliminate the ADF’s strongholds in the Congolese region, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021. However, these measures have thus far failed to put an end to the group’s brutal attacks.

Earlier this year, in March, the United States announced a reward of up to $5 million for any information leading to the capture of the ADF’s leader.

The attack on the school in western Uganda has once again highlighted the ongoing threat posed by militant groups and the urgent need for enhanced security measures to safeguard the lives and well-being of innocent civilians, particularly vulnerable children attending educational institutions.