Kampala, Uganda, June 17: An armed rebel group with links to the Islamic State, known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), has carried out a brutal attack on a school in western Uganda.
The military has confirmed that at least 41 people, mostly school children, were killed, while six others were abducted during the assault.
The exact death toll remains unclear as official figures have not been released, but it is known that a large number of secondary school children fell victim to the attack.
Local authorities have recovered the bodies of 41 individuals, including 38 students, and confirmed that they were either burned, shot, or brutally hacked to death by the rebel group.
Late on Friday, approximately 20 members of the ADF launched an assault on Lhubirira secondary school, as reported by the Ugandan Military.
The ADF rebels initially began their insurgency against President Yoweri Museveni in the 1990s, operating from a base located in the Rwenzori Mountains, which straddle the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The ADF has been condemned internationally and was sanctioned by the United Nations, as well as several countries, including the United States, in 2014, due to their involvement in terrorist activities in Uganda and the surrounding region, including brutality on children.
Although the Ugandan military had largely subdued the group, remnants of the ADF managed to flee across the border into the vast jungles of eastern Congo. From there, they have continued to carry out insurgency operations, targeting both civilian and military objectives in both Congo and Uganda.
In April, the ADF launched another brutal attack on a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people.
In response to the brutal attack on Ugandan school, the defence forces are actively pursuing the perpetrators, with the primary goal of rescuing the abducted individuals. The spokesperson for the Ugandan defence forces has confirmed these efforts.
In recent years, after the fall of the Caliphate in West Asia, the Islamic State (IS) has been expanding its influence and presence in Africa by aligning itself with rebel groups and militant organizations.
