Uganda ADF school attack: I covered myself in blood to hide

Student Julius Isingoma has told the BBC however helium miraculously survived a night-time battle by suspected Islamist rebels connected his schoolhouse dormitory successful occidental Uganda.

"I smeared the humor of my dormant colleagues successful my mouth, ears and connected my caput truthful that the attackers would deliberation I was dead," helium said, erstwhile we met him astatine Bwera General Hospital successful Kasese district.

About 40 radical - 37 of them students - died successful the onslaught connected the secondary schoolhouse successful the tiny municipality of Mpondwe connected Friday night.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni blamed the onslaught connected the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), adding that they were "possibly moving with different criminals due to the fact that I perceive that schoolhouse had immoderate wrangles". He did not elaborate, but vowed to hunt down the militants successful their hide-outs crossed the borderline successful the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ADF has not yet commented.

It was formed successful the 1990s and took up arms against Mr Museveni, alleging persecution of the number Muslims population.

Its person reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) radical successful 2016.

But it was not until April 2019 that IS archetypal acknowledged its enactment successful the area, erstwhile it claimed an onslaught connected service positions adjacent the borderline with Uganda.

This connection marked the announcement of IS's "Central Africa Province" (Iscap).

Six students are believed to person been abducted arsenic the militants retreated to DR Congo.

Julius was among six radical who managed to past the battle which lasted for respective hours.

He did not place the attackers, but said they were gun-wielding men who launched their onslaught astatine astir 22:00 section time.

They came to the boys' dormitory but the students had locked it aft realising they were successful danger.

"When they couldn't unfastened the doorway they hurled a weaponry wrong the dormitory and past utilized hammers and axes to interruption down the door," helium said.

Julius was lasting down galore of the students who had formed a shield adjacent the doorway and were changeable dormant erstwhile the militants got into the dormitory.

There were cries arsenic the students were gunned down, hacked oregon changeable to death.

He rapidly climbed to the apical of a bunk bed, removed immoderate of the woody planks of the ceiling, and jumped wrong to hide.

From there, helium helplessly watched his colleagues being brutally murdered by the assailants, who past acceptable occurrence to mattresses and left.

"I was overwhelmed by the fume and dropped backmost down into the dormitory with a thud," helium said.

The militants heard the thud and came back.

It was astatine that constituent that Julius knew helium had to travel retired of the onslaught alive.

"I laic adjacent to the bloodied bodies of my friends and thought precise fast. Then I smeared a batch of humor into my ears, rima and connected my caput and erstwhile the militants came, they checked my manus for a pulse and left," Julius said.

Another survivor, Godwin Mumbere, was successful the aforesaid dormitory arsenic Julius.

The 18-year-old recalled the assailants going to the girls' dormitory, dragging them retired and hacking them to decease with machetes.

They past came to the boys' dormitory, broke down the doorway and started attacking the students.

The furniture Godwin was hiding nether was overturned and his friends who were connected apical fell to the crushed and were killed.

"The attackers saw maine but thought I was dead," helium told the BBC.

But they went retired and came backmost into the dormitory to guarantee everyone was dead.

"It was astatine this constituent that they changeable maine successful the manus and acceptable the dorm ablaze," helium said.

Godwin was brought backmost to world by the shouts of different pupil who said they were dying.

He ran retired of the dormitory, scaled the schoolhouse gross and ran to a adjacent hardware store done a cocoa plantation. He got to a lodge and hid nether a conveyance until helium was rescued.

Clarice Bwambare, the elder head of Bwera General Hospital, told the BBC they started receiving the bodies of students and residents astatine astir 01:00 - astir 3 hours aft the onslaught started connected Friday night.

He noted that retired of the 20 bodies they received, 18 were those of students.

Five survivors are presently recuperating astatine the hospital. One of them is simply a miss who is successful captious information astatine the intensive attraction unit. A surgeon advised that she cannot beryllium moved due to the fact that of a terrible caput wounded from being deed with a hammer by the rebels.

Mr Bwambare said lone 1 assemblage had not been claimed from the mortuary.

On Sunday, grief-stricken families buried 21 of the students, according to Uganda's New Vision newspaper.

Lying connected his infirmary bed, Julius expressed regret that helium could not be their funerals. He said helium wished helium was a worker who could combat backmost and prevention the lives of his friends and colleagues.