UGANDA: Rebels Kill Over 43 Students days after US Terror Alerts

Assailants believed to be Allied Democratic Front (ADF) rebels have attacked a school in Kasese district and allegedly killed over 43 students. The attack occurred on Friday night.

The Mpondwe Lhubirira Secondary School students were attacked while sleeping in their dormitories by the rebels. The school, in Mpondwe, is about two kilometres from the Democratic Republic of Congo border with Uganda.

Over eight students are known to have been injured in the attack.

The rebels are said to have abducted an unknown number of students as they retreated back into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The injured have been taken to Bwera General Hospital.

During the attack, a dormitory is said to have been burnt. The school food store was also broken into and looted.The attack has been confirmed by Kasese Resident District Commissioner Joe Walusimbi.

Uganda Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga says police is on ground to ascertain the number of dead and missing as well as how the attack occurred.

Enanga further added that Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) are in pursuit of the group thought to be headed towards Virunga National Park.

The attack occurred days after the US government asked its Citizens to reconsider travel to Uganda due to crime, terrorism among other issues.

‘’There remains a threat of terrorist attacks in Uganda and throughout the region. Terrorist attacks occurred in several villages in western Uganda in December 2022 and there were multiple bombings in and around Kampala in 2021. While the attacks did not appear to target foreign nationals, anyone can be a victim. U.S. citizens should remain alert and avoid large public gatherings’’, reads in part the Travel Advisory issued June 12 2023 days before the Friday attack.

The attack on the school also comes twenty-five years to the day after the same rebel outfit launched a devastating attack on Uganda Technical College, Kichwamba on June 8, 1998. Reports indicate 80 students lost their lives in that ADF attack while another 100 were abducted.