Dozens killed, six abducted in attack on Uganda school

Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of 41 people, including 38 students, who were burned, shot, or hacked to death by attackers at a secondary school.

At least six people were abducted by the rebels, who fled across the porous border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the grisly raid.Authorities blamed the massacre at Lhubiriha Secondary School in the border town of Mpondwe on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group with ties to ISIL (ISIS), which has been launching attacks for years from bases in volatile eastern DRC.

It was the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 in an attack claimed by the Somalia-based al-Shabab group.

Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Mayor Selevest Mapoze said on Saturday while some of the students suffered fatal burns when the rebels set fire to a dormitory, others were shot or hacked to death with machetes.

Mumbere Edgar Dido, 16, said the attackers arrived at his dormitory carrying machetes and guns and opened fire from outside, sending everyone diving under their beds.‘Many unanswered questions’
Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the six kidnapped were taken towards Virunga National Park, a vast expanse that straddles the border. “UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.”

National police spokesman Fred Enanga said the attack on the privately owned school occurred in the district of Kasese, about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the DRC border.

Daniel Bwambale, a lawyer and expert on government affairs in Kampala, told Al Jazeera the attack was preventable.“There is no reason why this attack should have taken place. There are air assets available, unmanned aerial vehicles, artillery and most definitely enough personnel to pursue the ADF,” he said, blaming the authorities for failing to act on the intelligence.Burned ‘beyond recognition’
Joe Walusimbi, an official representing Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in Kasese, said, “Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition.”

Major-General Dick Olum, the army’s commander for western Uganda, said the attackers stayed in the town two days before the attack, marking their target. He said an unidentified youth had gone to the school to check its layout before the attack.

“That is how the attackers came and locked the boys’ door. The boys really tried to fight back, but they were overpowered. The attackers had lit mattresses,” Olum told reporters from Mpondwe.

‘Barbaric’
The DRC and Uganda militaries have launched joint operations against the ADF in recent years.

Bulama Bukarti, an analyst with Uganda’s Daily Trust newspaper, said the armed group generally responds to military pressure by targeting civilians.

“They want to cause maximum casualties in order to prove to their enemies that they are still alive,” he told Al Jazeera. “This is a barbaric and unacceptable attack. It is an attack on innocent children. It is an attack on the future of Uganda and Congo. No child, no parent should have to go through this.”

In April, the group was blamed for an attack there that left at least 20 people dead. It is believed to have been responsible for killing 36 people in March during an overnight attack on the village of Mukondi, in eastern DRC.