Militants linked to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have killed at least 40 people in a terrorist attack on a school in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Five militants attacked the Lhubiriha secondary school in Mpondwe at around 23:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday.
They entered dormitories, setting fire and using machetes to kill and maim the pupils.
According to Ugandan police, members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan group based in eastern Congo that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, attacked Lhubirira secondary school in Mpondwe, burning a dormitory and looting food on Friday night, June 16.
Soldiers were pursuing the attackers who fled towards Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, police added.
Uganda has sent troops into Congo to help fight the ADF.
More than 60 people are educated at the school, most of whom live there.
Uganda’s information minister said 37 students were confirmed to have been killed, but did not give their ages.
Twenty of them were attacked with machetes and 17 of them burned to death, Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC.
The Ugandan army said the rebels had also killed a school guard and three members of the local community.
Survivors said the rebels threw a bomb into the dormitory after the machete attack. It is not clear if this resulted in a fire in the building which was reported earlier.
Six students were also abducted to carry food that the rebels stole from the school’s stores, he added.
The militants then returned across the border into the DR Congo.
Some of the bodies are said to have been badly burnt and DNA tests will need to be carried out to identify them.
Eight people remain in a critical condition after the attack.
