18-6-2023 (KAMPALA) Mpondwe town in Uganda’s southwestern district of Kasese has regained a sense of calm after a tragic incident orchestrated by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels claimed the lives of 41 individuals, primarily students, according to a government official on Sunday.
Joe Walusimbi, the resident commissioner for Kasese district, assured the public that the situation on the ground was stable and there was no cause for concern. “There is no problem on the ground. We are normal and calm. There is nothing to worry about,” Walusimbi conveyed during a phone interview with Xinhua.
He further confirmed that military operations were underway to track down the attackers and rescue any remaining students. “The military is leading the operations to hunt down these attackers and rescue the students,” Walusimbi added.
The Ugandan security forces have attributed the attack on Lhubirira Secondary School to the ADF rebels, who launched the assault on Friday night. As of now, the tragic incident has resulted in the loss of 37 students, a security guard, and three members of the local community. Additionally, eight students sustained injuries, and six are believed to have been abducted by the rebels.
In response to the attack, the military issued a statement on Saturday, announcing the deployment of aerial and ground forces to pursue the assailants, who may have sought refuge in the Virunga National Park located in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The ADF, operating as an affiliate of the Islamic State in Central Africa, is a Ugandan rebel group that has taken shelter in the jungles of eastern DRC. The rebels have been responsible for instigating turmoil in villages across the eastern region of the DRC.
In November 2021, the Ugandan military, in collaboration with their Congolese counterparts, initiated joint operations against the rebel group following a series of bomb attacks launched by the ADF in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
