MASSACRE AT THE SCHOOL OF LHUBIRIHA WITH

FORTY PUPILS KILLED WITH MACHETE OR BURNED ALIVE BY ISLAMISTS

Army spokesman Felix Kulayigye told CNN that some were killed with machetes while others died when their dormitories burned.

“I was alerted to the attack a few minutes after 11 p.m. when cries from students were heard from our school,” the principal of Llubhira Secondary School said in remarks echoed by International Christian Concern, “J immediately contacted security but they didn't show up until after an hour when the attack was over and the rebels were coming out. So far we have counted 45 dead students

A local witness says he saw "a group of about 30 people dressed in jungle uniforms, but with their heads covered and armed to the teeth"

According to Major General Dick Olum, this officer, the attackers had detailed information about the school.

"They knew where the boys' and girls' dorms were," Dick Olum said. "That's why the rebels locked the boys' dormitory and set it on fire. The rebels didn't lock the girls' section and the girls managed to get out, but they were beaten with machetes, while 'they were running for cover, and others were shot."

"We have requested more firepower, aircraft to assist in the rescue of abductees and to locate rebel hideouts for military action," he said.

Vatican News reports the first elements of the investigation according to which the militia set fire to dormitories and several students were stabbed to death.

After the attack, the militiamen, who also abducted six people, fled towards Virunga National Park, located in Congolese territory. The border is only two kilometers from the school.

The ADF, the militia responsible for the massacre

Major General Dick Olum said intelligence had reported an ADF presence in the area at least two days before the attack, underscoring the need for an investigation.

The men responsible for the attack are part of the Islamist militia of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). This armed group was created in 1995 to overthrow the President of the Republic of Uganda Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986.

The Allied Democratic Forces in English Allied Democratic Forces, ADF is a Ugandan armed group bringing together opposition movements to President Yoweri Museveni. The organization has since moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo where its operations are concentrated. Initially mainly composed of Islamists from the Tabligh movement, the ADF had been led since 2007 by Jamil Mukulu before his arrest in 2015. Then Musa Seka Baluku took over from its former chief of arms. According to several estimates, the ADF is composed of 300 to 600 combatants. In 2019, the militia pledged allegiance to the Islamic State

Operating largely on Congolese territory, the militia is believed to be responsible for more than 730 attacks since 2017, killing around 3,850, according to New York University and the NGO Human Rights Watch. This is not the first time that these rebels have attacked schools. Already, in 1998, the ADF had burned alive 80 students in the dormitories of the Uganda Technical Institute, in Kichwamba, near the DRC border.

Why attack Lubiriha high school?

The establishment, located in the town of Mpondwe, a Ugandan border post which manages the State's trade with the DRC, was built by a Canadian non-governmental organization, reports the “New York Times”. It opened in 2010.

According to Richard Moncrieff, expert at the International Crisis Group (ICG) interviewed by the BBC, attacking a high school is a way for the ADF to "recruit children". The Islamic group is suspected of enlisting child soldiers.