42 students killed in Uganda school attack
According to the government, at least 42 students were killed in an attack on a school in Uganda on Saturday night.
Eight other children were seriously injured in the border town of Mpondwe in the south-west of the country. The police blamed rebels from the Islamist militia ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a regional government official told the German Press Agency dpa, 15 children were also kidnapped.
For years there have been repeated bloody attacks by the ADF and other Congolese militias in the border areas between the two East African countries. The ADF is said to have ties to the Central African offshoot of the Islamist terrorist militia Islamic State. The group’s worst attack happened in 1998, when terrorists killed 80 students in a raid on a university in the border region.
According to their own statements, the group fights for the rights of Muslims in Uganda, who are pushed to the fringes of society by the government. The aim of the group is to overthrow the government. The victims of the attacks, however, are mostly civilians.
In the middle of the night, the Islamist militia ADF attacked a school in south-west Uganda. They kill dozens of children and kidnap more. Uganda’s troops say they are hot on the heels of the rebels.
According to the government, at least 42 students were killed in an attack on a school in Uganda on Saturday night. Eight other children were seriously injured in the border town of Mpondwe in the south-west of the country. The police blamed rebels from the Islamist militia ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to a regional government official, 15 children were also kidnapped.
According to the Defense Ministry, troops are already pursuing the attackers. “Our forces are pursuing the enemy to rescue the kidnapped and destroy the group,” it said in a statement. According to the BBC, those kidnapped are mostly girls, while those killed are mostly male. The rebels burned down a dormitory and took food with them. How exactly the attack took place and how the students were killed was not initially disclosed.
Uganda School Attack: Victims mostly civilians
For years there have been repeated bloody attacks by the ADF and other Congolese militias in the border areas between the two East African countries. The ADF is said to have ties to the Central African offshoot of the Islamist terrorist militia Islamic State (IS).
The group’s worst attack happened in 1998, when terrorists killed 80 students in a raid on a university in the border region.
The ADF oppose the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. The US government has classified the ADF as a global terrorist organization. According to their own statements, the group fights for the rights of Muslims in Uganda, who are pushed to the fringes of society by the government. The aim of the group is to overthrow the government. The victims of the attacks, however, are mostly civilians.
