Uganda school attack: 'Gospel songs interrupted by screaming'

Pupils successful Uganda were singing gospel songs earlier a deadly onslaught by Islamist militants connected Friday, a pistillate who lives other the schoolhouse says.

"Then I heard screaming," Mary Masika told the BBC. The vicious onslaught successful Mpondwe near astir 40 radical dead.

Islamic State-linked militants person been blamed for the attack.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was created successful the 1990s and took up arms against President Yoweri Museveni, alleging persecution of Muslims.

They are mostly based successful neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School attacked connected Friday is adjacent to the border.

Ms Masika says she and different residents person been near terrified by the attack which lasted astir 90 minutes.

"I person been incapable to devour oregon slumber since then," she told the BBC successful Swahili.

The students usually sing earlier bedtime - and astatine archetypal she and her girl thought the sound that interrupted their songs astatine astir 22:00 (20:00 GMT) suggested that they were having a spot of fun.

But it soon became wide that thing horrific was nether mode astatine the school, which had astir 60 boarders surviving successful a tiny compound.

ADF rebels had entered dormitories, mounting occurrence to them and utilizing machetes to termination and maim students.

One household successful Mpondwe held the funerals connected Sunday for a begetter and lad killed successful the onslaught - 47-year-old information defender Elphanas Mbusa and 17-year-old Masereka Elton.

Their different son, 15-year-old Brian Muhindo who was besides attending the school, is missing. They bash not cognize if helium is amongst the six boys kidnapped oregon 1 of those whose bodies cannot beryllium identified due to the fact that they person been truthful severely burned.

Hurubana Kimadi Onesmus told the BBC helium recovered it hard to recognize however the attackers were capable to infiltrate the schoolhouse wherever his son, the information guard, worked and wherever his grandsons were studying.

"There is simply a precise dense subject beingness successful the area," the 69-year-old said.

Now determination is simply a batch of information astatine the schoolhouse - and the BBC squad was fixed lone a fewer minutes to instrumentality immoderate photos of the burnt buildings.

It was a devastating and upsetting scene.

Lots of dried humor is inactive connected the crushed extracurricular the girls' dormitory - they had been attacked by machetes and others changeable dormant arsenic they ran away.

The boys' dormitory had been locked - they had either refused to unfastened it to the rebels oregon they were locked wrong by them. The militants poured substance connected the gathering and acceptable it alight.

Inside the odor of decease is unmistakeable - beds person been reduced to ligament mesh with pieces of soma inactive stuck to them.

Ms Masika said towards the extremity of the attack, astatine astir 23:30, she heard 1 of the assailants talking astatine her gross and asking a chap combatant if "the occupation was done".

They were talking successful Swahili - the lingua franca successful the portion - and afterwards began shouting "Allahu Akbar", meaning "God is greatest".

She said aft these chants 1 of them added: "We person succeeded successful destabilising Museveni's country."

In response, President Museveni vowed to nonstop much troops to Rwenzori Mountains, which are on the borderline betwixt Uganda and the DR Congo, saying: "Their action... the desperate, cowardly, violent action... volition not prevention them."

The country astir Mpondwe seems to beryllium a premix of Christians and Muslims. Some of those attending the funerals connected Sunday were dressed successful accepted Muslim attire.

Other funerals for the pupils killed successful the onslaught were held successful villages crossed the region, with astir radical dumbfounded and pained by the brutality of the assault.