Agence France-Presse
The death toll from an attack on a school in western Uganda by jihadists linked to the Islamic State-aligned Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militaria has risen to 37, the country’s army said on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and conveyed to Bwera hospital mortuary,” Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement, referring to a town near where the attack occurred.
Enanga said the ADF, which is based in eastern DR Congo, attacked a secondary school near Bwera where “a dormitory was burnt and [a] food store looted”.
“Also recovered are eight victims, who remain in critical condition at Bwera hospital,” he said.
The army and police units were pursuing the attackers in the direction of Virunga National Park, which lies over the border in DR Congo where the ADF is based.
Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians.
Since 2019, some ADF attacks in eastern DRC have been claimed by the Islamic State group, which describes the fighters as a local offshoot, the Islamic State Central Africa Province. – gb
