Forty-one people, including 38 students, were killed when an Islamist extremist group attacked a secondary school.
The attackers, allegedly members of the Allied Democratic Forces with links to ISIS, also abducted six people and took them across the border to Congo, according to Ugandan military sources.
Julius Isingoma, one of the eight survivors of the attack on the Lhubiriha Secondary School in Uganda, described how he smeared himself with blood to deceive the attackers into thinking he was dead. Isingoma recounted how he lay among the corpses of his friends and applied blood to his mouth, ears, and head. When the attackers checked for a pulse, they believed he was deceased and left.
The attack began with students barricading themselves in the boys’ dormitory. The assailants breached the door before opening fire. Isingoma climbed into the ceiling for cover, but fell and drew the attackers’ attention, at which point he resorted to disguising himself with blood.
Another survivor, Godwin Mumbere, hid under a bed and was shielded by the bodies of fallen classmates. He was shot in the hand and survived despite the dormitory being set on fire.
The assailants employed guns, hammers, and axes in their brutal onslaught, resulting in deaths by shooting, burning, and hacking. Among the dead were one school guard and two community members.
The mayor of Mpondwe confirmed the discovery of 41 bodies. The survivors, including a critically injured girl, were taken to a hospital for treatment.
