Uganda school attack: The Horror of High School Students Murdered in Religious Extremism

In an act of senseless violence, Islamist extremists ended the lives of no fewer than 37 students, most of whom were practising Christians, on a chilling Friday night, the 16th of June. This occurred in the dormitories of a private educational institution, Lhubiriha Secondary School, nestled in the Mpondwe area of the Kasese District in Uganda. The terrorists also orchestrated the kidnapping of an additional six individuals, according to various reliable sources.

Echoes of Extremism and Brutal Tactics

In a display of unbridled brutality, the assailants attacked under the cover of night, their war cry echoing “Allahu Akbar” or “God is greater”. This alarming account was reported by the BBC, detailing the horrifying events that took place at Lhubiriha Secondary School. Young female students fell victim to machete attacks, while the boys were trapped inside a dormitory set ablaze, leading to their harrowing demise. In addition to the students, five other individuals associated with the school lost their lives, while four students sustained serious injuries, according to official reports from the Ugandan authorities.

A Testimony from Within the Chaos

Edgard Mumbere, one of the survivors and a student at the school, provided a firsthand account of the tragic events to Morning Star News. He recounted how the armed extremists demanded the boys unlock their dormitory door, with one extremist proclaiming the need for Islam to be the predominant religion in Uganda, accusing the school of promoting Christianity and receiving support from Western Christians.

This terrifying encounter forced the boys to take cover under their beds, Mumbere recounted. They remained silent, while one student dared to peek out of the door, only to confirm the terrifying reality – the Islamists who orchestrated Uganda School Attack were heavily armed. What followed was a succession of gunshots, setting off a chain reaction of dormitory fires.

Mumbere vividly described the horrifying moments that ensued, “They hurled a bomb at our dormitory, filling the room with smoke and making it difficult for us to breathe. Some of us managed to escape the dormitory but were shot and endured serious injuries.” Mumbere was fortunate enough to find a hiding place in the ceiling area, but the engulfing smoke caused him to fall. In a desperate bid for survival, he smeared blood over his body, pretending to be dead. This chilling charade saved his life when an attacker checked and overlooked him.

Community Reeling from Loss

The majority of Uganda School Attack victims had strong ties to various local Christian fellowships, including the Church of Uganda, Crossway Church, Kasese Pentecostal Church, All Saints Kasese Town, Independent Baptist Church, and Kasese Central Baptist Church. This was according to a contact affiliated with Morning Star News.

Speculation and Blame

Mpondwe, situated near Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), serves as a base for the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic State affiliate. This geographical proximity led Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to blame an ADF offshoot for this shocking atrocity on a subsequent day, Saturday, June 17th.

However, neither the ADF nor the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for this massacre, a step typically taken by such groups. Uganda’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, who also serves as the Education Minister, proposed an alternative theory during a press conference. She suggested that individuals or groups aiming to take control of the school could have exploited the terrorists to achieve their goals.

Responses and Ramifications

President Museveni attributed the Uganda School Attack to the success of joint Ugandan-DRC efforts to weaken the ADF. He suggested that this drove the group to target a “soft target” within Uganda. The President elaborated on this notion to the local press, stating,

“Their desperate, criminal and terrorist schemes have led them to imagine that by attacking unarmed people in Uganda, it would force us to withdraw our army from Congo to defend our villages, thereby sparing them further losses.”

Local law enforcement has reportedly made at least three arrests in connection with the ongoing investigations.

A pastor from Crossway Ministries Churches in Kasese expressed the intense fear gripping the Christian community in the area. The bereaved families of the deceased have requested financial support and prayers.

The Role of the ADF

The ADF is notorious as one of the most deadly among over 120 armed groups in the eastern DRC. Initially established in western Uganda, the ADF has been active in the DRC’s North Kivu Province, close to the Uganda border, since the late 1990s. In 2019, the ADF split into two factions, with one merging with the Islamic State Central Africa Province. Subsequently, in 2021, the U.S. government officially designated the ADF as a foreign terrorist organization with established links to the Islamic State.

Religious Persecution in Uganda

The June 16 Uganda School Attack is a bleak addition to the many instances of religious persecution, particularly against Christians, that Morning Star News has documented in Uganda.

In Uganda, the constitution and other laws uphold religious freedom, ensuring the right to propagate one’s faith and the freedom to convert from one faith to another. Muslims constitute less than 12% of Uganda’s population, with a higher concentration in the eastern regions of the country. However, this horrifying incident underscores the fragile state of religious tolerance in Uganda, revealing the underbelly of violence and persecution that lies beneath.

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