SW News: A jihadist attack in a school in Africa’s Uganda has left at least 41 dead, including 38 students. The incident took place at the Lhubiriha Secondary School in the border town of Mpondwe on Friday night.

So far, the bodies of 41 victims have been recovered, said the authorities. There are also reports that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist outfit, carried out the attack. They set fire to the dormitory and attacked the students with machetes and guns. Among the dead are a security guard and two members of the local community.

Reports say that an unspecified number of people were kidnapped by rebels and taken across the border into neighboring Congo after the attack on the school. The private school in the district of Kasese is just two kilometers from the border. According to a police statement, the dormitory was torched along with a food store. Bodies that are being recovered are shifted to Bwera Hospital. Eight people who were injured in the attack are in critical condition.

Investigators said troops are going in pursuit of the assailants in Congo’s Virunga National Park. In a separate statement, the military said troops have crossed the border to rescue those who have been kidnapped. Presidential representative Joe Walusimbi told the media that some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.

A former lawmaker from the area Winnie Kiiza bemoaned the attack in a Twitter message saying, "Attacks on schools are unacceptable and are a grave violation of children's rights.”

From their hideouts in eastern parts of Congo, the Islamist militants launch frequent raids on border towns and villages killing innocent people, burning houses and food depots apart from kidnapping villagers for ransom. It was in the early half of the 90s that the militant group was established by Ugandan Muslims. After a series of attacks, including the infamous 1998 attack on a school killing 80 students, the Ugandan military cracked down on the outfit, forcing them to cross the border into Congo.