Uganda - June 2023

On 16 June, a terrorist attack carried out against a school in Mpondwe, a town in western Uganda, left at least 42 people dead, 37 of which were students. A further six students were abducted. Uganda’s President blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group established in Uganda in the 1990s but now based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ADF attacks in Uganda are rare. In 2021, the group carried out a series of bombings in the country’s capital Kampala, which killed three people. According to local experts, communities living in western Uganda are particularly vulnerable to assaults and recruitment by militant groups due to the unregulated movement of people and goods across the border with the DRC and high unemployment rates. Previous ADF attacks have led to increased discrimination against Uganda’s Muslim communities and Muslims in Mpondwe were reported to be fearful of retaliation.              

Sources: Daily Monitor, Al Jazeera, Ugandan Police Force, President Yoweri Museveni, Institute for Security Studies