10 killed in Kamwenge attack
Police cordon off a crime scene at Kitehurizi trading center in Kyabandara Parish, Kamwenge Sub County in Kamwenge District where suspected ADF militias attacked and killed 10 people on December 18, 2023. PHOTO/ ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- This comes days after President Museveni said on December 13 that at least 200 members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels affiliated to the Islamic State group were killed in air strikes led by Uganda in September in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Originally Ugandan rebels with a Muslim majority, the ADF have been active since the mid-1990s in the eastern DR Congo, where they have killed thousands of civilians.
At least 10 people are confirmed dead following a Tuesday morning attack by unknown assailants in Kamwenge District, western Uganda.
Police said the attack happened at around 2am at Kyitehurizi trading center in Kyabandara Parish, Kamwenge Sub County.
Four bodies of the victims were burnt in the structure that housed a shop, a bar and a hotel.
Six other victims were found guarding a maize farm and hacked to death by the assailants suspected to be Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militants.
Police identified some of the victims only as Margaret Banyazaki, 60 and Tugume, 25. Identities of the other eight victims are yet to be established.
“Preliminary findings reveal that 10 assailants, armed with SMG rifles attacked and fatally burnt 10 people in Kyitehurizi trading center, Kyabandara parish, Kamwenge sub-county, located near Kibale National Park. After the incident, the assailants proceeded to break into the store of Richard Baguma and looted 300kgs of beans, a sack of Irish potatoes, three trays of eggs, and 50kgs of maize. They also set ablaze a motorcycle Reg No. UFC 851T,” said Rwenzori West Region police spokesperson, Vicent Twesige.
After the attack, the assailants reportedly headed towards Kibale National Park.
“Upon receiving the information, our officers responded to the scene immediately, deploying canine units alongside UPDF personnel. A manhunt led by Joint Security Agencies is currently underway, and further updates will be provided as the investigation progresses,” SP Twesige added.
Police cordon off a crime scene at Kitehurizi trading center in Kyabandara Parish, Kamwenge Sub County in Kamwenge District where suspected ADF militias attacked and killed 10 people on December 18, 2023. PHOTO/ ALEX ASHABA
This comes days after President Museveni said on December 13 that at least 200 members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels affiliated to the Islamic State group were killed in air strikes led by Uganda in September in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Originally Ugandan rebels with a Muslim majority, the ADF have been active since the mid-1990s in the eastern DR Congo, where they have killed thousands of civilians.
In 2019, they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which now claims some of their actions and presents them as its "Central African Province" affiliate.
"We have been carrying out air attacks on the terrorists in Congo," President Museveni said on X, formerly Twitter, before claiming that around "200 of them were killed" in strikes carried out on September 16.
More strikes have been carried out since then, Mr Museveni added without giving further details.
The rebels are accused of having massacred thousands of civilians in DR Congo in recent years and of carrying out jihadist attacks on Ugandan soil.
Uganda and the DRC launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but have so far failed to put an end to the group's attacks.
In March, the United States announced that it was offering a reward of up to $5 million for any information that would lead to the group's leader, a Ugandan in his forties named Musa Baluku.
In October, two tourists, a British man and a South African woman on their honeymoon, as well as their guide, were killed while on safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park in the west of the country, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Uganda arrested the leader of the ADF rebel group, Abdul Rashid Kyoto, also known by aliases Njovu and Tembo, accused of carrying out the murders in early November.
Police cordon off a crime scene at Kitehurizi trading center in Kyabandara Parish, Kamwenge Sub County in Kamwenge District where suspected ADF militias attacked and killed 10 people on December 18, 2023. PHOTO/ ALEX ASHABA
Related stories: Police offer Shs40m bounty for top ADF militants
In June, 42 people, including 37 pupils, were killed in an attack on Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese District, western Uganda also attributed to the ADF.
That was not the first attack on a school in Uganda blamed on the rebel group.
In 1998, 80 students were burnt alive in their dormitories during an ADF attack on the Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border.
Early this month, police offered at least Shs40million for information leading to the arrest of two alleged ADF fugitive militants.
Police on December 4 published the two top ADF rebels accused of waging insurgencies in Uganda and neighbouring DR Congo.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said one of the most wanted, Musa Kamusi, is the new commander of a splinter ADF cell formerly led by Njovu.
On December 13, UPDF said they had killed two ADF militants and injured Kamusi in an operation within Kibaale National Park.
The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Gen Felix Kulaigye, confirmed the operation's success, disclosing that two SMG rifles were recovered from the neutralised rebels.
"Two ADF terrorists dead and their Commander Kamusi was injured by UPDF in Kibale forest. The hunt to eliminate the remaining terrorists & their agents within the country continues," he said.
Kibaale National Park sprawls across the districts of Kabarole, Kamwenge, and Kyenjojo.
