Authorities blame ISIS-linked group for deadly attack on Ugandan school
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – According to Ugandan authorities, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an opposition group with links to Islamic State (ISIS), is responsible for an attack on a private school in Mpondwe late on Friday, which killed at least 25 people.
The attack occurred close to Uganda’s border with the DRC. According to Ugandan police, 25 bodies were recovered from the scene and 8 people remain in critical condition. Officials also worry that an undisclosed number of people were abducted by the group.
The ADF was founded in the 1990s in opposition to the government. Based in DRC, they have also threatened security forces in Rwanda and its host country. In 2017, elements within ADF began forging ties with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. ISIS propaganda showed ADF members pledging allegiance to the group in 2019.
The group is likely responsible for the killing of 36 people in village in eastern DRC in March. Ugandan authorities have also tied the ADF to a suicide bombing in the country’s capital, Kampala, in 2021.
Numerous ISIS-linked groups operate in sub-Saharan Africa, including in the tri-border region between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, in northeast Nigeria, around Lake Chad, in the Horn of Africa, and in northern Mozambique, as well as the DRC.