Uganda Reeling After Deadly Attack

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has promised that his nation’s armed forces will hunt down the rebels accused of killing at least 41 civilians, mostly students.

“Their action – the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action – will not save them,” Museveni said in an official statement released on Sunday, 18 June.

The Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe town, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was reportedly targeted by suspected extremist rebels, the Allied Defence Force, on Friday 16 June.

Neighbours next to the school told an international publication that they could hear the students singing as they got ready for bed but the joyful sounds were soon interrupted by a violent, 90-minute attack on the school.

At least six students are believed to have been abducted by the armed rebels and taken across the DRC border just 2km away, with Ugandan authorities vowing to do what they can to return the kidnapped boys home.

Some families have already begun laying their loved ones to rest, but others are struggling to confirm the identities of some of the bodies due to the harsh nature of the attack.

The incident has drawn international recognition, as Pope Francis led prayers at the Vatican for “the young student victims of the brutal attack” on Sunday, while the United Nations, the United States of America and the African Union have all been vocal about condemning the violence.

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