Africa

Militants linked to Islamic State kill 25 in attack on Ugandan school

Police say the attack in Lhubirira was carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Forces

Ugandan soldiers are pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have fled towards the Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo, according to police. Photograph: Sébastien Kitsa Musayi/AFP via Getty Images
Ugandan soldiers are pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have fled towards the Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo, according to police. Photograph: Sébastien Kitsa Musayi/AFP via Getty Images
Sat Jun 17 2023 - 08:00

Militants linked to Islamic State killed 25 people in a terrorist attack on a school in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ugandan police said on Saturday.

Members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan group based in eastern Congo that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, attacked Lhubirira secondary school in Mpondwe, burning a dormitory and looting food late on Friday, police said.

"So far 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital. Also recovered are eight victims, who remain in critical condition at Bwera Hospital," Ugandan police said on Twitter.

Police did not say how many of the dead were schoolchildren.

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Soldiers were pursuing the attackers who fled towards Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, police added.

In April, the ADF attacked a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 20 people.

Uganda has sent troops into Congo to help fight the ADF. - Reuters