On June 16, armed rebels attacked a school in western Uganda, killing 41 people. At a press conference in Kampala, Ugandan military spokesman Felix Kulayigye indicated that the majority of those killed were children and young adults attending school. He said many people perished when insurgents set fire to their dorms or hacked them to death with machetes.
Twenty members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), were responsible for the attack on the Lhubirira secondary school in Kasese. Similar atrocities have been committed by this terrorist organization in Uganda over the past few years, and it is believed to have ties to ISIS.
Kulayigye told the media that 62 individuals were there at the time of the terrorist attack on the school. He added that the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) had been sent to certain areas of the city to protect civilians and hunt for the terrorists.
Uganda’s military operations spokesperson in the Congo, Major Bilal Katamba, says that troops are already on the hunt for some individuals. He also revealed that these people may be sheltering in Virunga National Park or other neighboring Congolese cities.
Major Dick Olum, the UPDF’s eastern Congo operations commander, has speculated that some young people assisted the ADF terrorists in their attack by supplying them with intelligence. He urged the people of Kasese to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior to the police.
On June 17, government officials from Uganda visited the secondary school. The First Lady of Uganda, Janey Museveni, took to Twitter to express the government’s solidarity with the “bereaved families.” She also expressed her deepest sympathies to those who had lost loved ones in the terrible incident. She concluded by saying she has faith that the UPDF will track down the terrorists and ensure that they “face justice.”
Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres condemned the incident, offered his sympathies, and urged the international community to aid Uganda in its fight against the ADF.
