Uganda's national police spokesperson confirmed on Saturday the death of 37 people, including children, in an attack on a school by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia.

According to Fred Enanga, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo-based ADF attacked a secondary school in Mpondwe on Friday where "a dormitory was burnt and food store looted".

"Unfortunately, 37 bodies have been discovered and conveyed to Bwera hospital mortuary," Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement, referring to a town near where the attack occurred.

District Commissioner Joe Walusimbi relayed to AFP that a number of students were still unaccounted for.

Army and police units remain in "hot pursuit" of the attackers who escaped in the direction of Virunga National Park over the border in DR Congo, which is the oldest nature reserve in Africa and is known worldwide as a sanctuary for rare species.

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The ADF gained a foothold in eastern DR Congo in the 1990s and has committed crimes ever since. Some of their attacks since 2019 have been claimed by ISIS, which describes the fighters as a local offshoot, the Islamic State Central Africa Province.

In June 1998, 80 students were burned to death in their dormitories by the ADF in Kichwamba Technical Institute near the border with DR Congo.

More than 100 students have been also abducted by the group.

A joint offensive in 2021 was launched by both Uganda and the DRC to stop the ADF, but their attempts have failed. 

The US announced a reward of up to $5 million for those who bring information leading to the capture of the group's leader.

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