Africa (Commonwealth Union) _ Following a massacre at a high school in Uganda, the country’s opposition has called for the repatriation of Ugandan troops deployed abroad for security reinforcement. The attack, attributed to jihadists, resulted in the deaths of at least 42 people, including students ranging from 12 to 95 years old. The incident occurred in Mpondwe, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the victims were brutally killed using machetes, firearms, and fire.
Ugandan authorities initially implicated members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militia that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, in the massacre. Abdallah Kiwanuka, an opposition official and minister responsible for internal affairs, expressed concern that Uganda’s deployment of troops abroad, notably in Somalia as part of an African Union force combating the radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab, has stretched the country’s security capabilities. Kiwanuka argued that this situation has provided an opportunity for the ADF to carry out attacks and called for the return of the deployed forces to strengthen internal security.
Authorities have arrested 21 individuals suspected of being ADF collaborators. Meanwhile, families await DNA test results to identify the victims, while questions remain regarding how the assailants managed to carry out the attack and escape in an area with a significant military presence.
President Yoweri Museveni denounced the massacre as a desperate and cowardly act, vowing to eliminate those responsible. The incident marks the deadliest attack in Uganda since a 2010 double assault in Kampala, claimed by the Somali-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which resulted in the deaths of 76 people.
According to a UN report, the ADF rebels have been receiving financial support from the Islamic State group since at least 2019 and are actively seeking to expand their operational territory.
