Religious leaders in Uganda have condemned the Allied Democratic Forces rebels June 16 attack and massacre of 42 students in a secondary school in southwestern Uganda.

Through their umbrella organization, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, the clergy — in a statement dated June 17 and signed by seven high-ranking leaders of the different religious sects — condemned the attack in the strongest terms possible.

“IRCU condemns these acts of terrorism, lawlessness and extreme violence against innocent students,” the statement said. “These barbaric acts are not only against the 1995 Constitutional Provisions requiring respect to the sanctity of life but also against the Holy Scriptures. We are reminded in Exodus 20:3 ‘Thou shall not kill’ and the Holy Quran 6:151 ‘Do not take a human life-made sacred by Allah-except with ‘legal’ right.’”

On June 16, the Allied Democratic Forces, an offshoot of the Islamic State group, attacked Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe town along the Uganda-Congo border, killing scores of students after burning a dormitory. ADF also kidnapped an undetermined number of students to carry away stolen food and other items.

In the scuffle that ensued as some students attempted to escape, rebels wielding machetes and guns hacked and shot some to death before fleeing through the jungles back to their hideouts in eastern Congo.

The killing of the students came less than a month after al-Shabab militants in Somalia annihilated 54 Uganda People’s Defense Force soldiers who were working under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia. And the set of attacks has caused more shock and grief in the country, sparking strong condemnations and responses from both the government and the church.

Religion Unplugged.com has learned that after the attack in Kasese, President Yoweri Museveni, the commander in chief of armed forces, ordered the deployment of commandos to the border between Uganda and Congo, where the incident happened to pursue the rebels and also prevent future attacks by ADF.

Military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Felix Kulayigye also revealed that Museveni had directed Uganda’s chief of defense forces, Gen. Wilson Mbadi, and the land forces commander, Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga, to rush to Kasese to ascertain the circumstances under which the rebels snuck into the country and executed such a deadly mission.

The commanders were expected to travel to Kasese together with a team from the Ugandan Ministry of Education to conduct a thorough ground assessment. The minister of education, also Uganda’s first lady, Janet Museveni, indicated after the attack that there were some internal wrangles in the school before the ADF attacked and warned that no one will harm Ugandan school children and walk away with it.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda in the statement appealed to security forces in Uganda to fast-track the investigations on the attack at the school to bring the culprits to accountability through the established legal mechanisms. The top clergy who signed the statement were led by the IRCU chair, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu of the Anglican Church of Uganda. Others included Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje, the mufti of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council; the Rev. Joseph Antony Zziwa, chair of the Uganda Episcopal Conference; and Metropolitan Jeronymos Muzeeyi, the archbishop of the Uganda Orthodox Church. 

The clergy also consoled the parents of the victims: “We grieve with you, nonetheless find strength in the word of God. Psalm 147:3 ‘He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.’ Al-Isra, 17:82 ‘And We sent down in the Quran such things that have healing and mercy for the believers.’”

They promised to organize national prayers for the bereaved families and the country at large at a later date.

The IRCU statement echoes similar messages from other leaders.

In his weekly angelus prayer at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for the victims. He said, “I pray for the young student victims of the brutal attack against a school in western Uganda.”

Similarly, on June 17, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund issued a statement condemning the attack and calling for the immediate release and safe return of all the children who were kidnapped. “Schools should be a safe place for learners to thrive and fulfill their potential,” read the statement signed by Safieldin Munir, UNICEF’s representative to Uganda, adding, “We commiserate with the families that have lost the lives of their children because of this attack. May their souls rest in peace.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, the government and the people of Uganda on June 17. He reiterated the importance of collective efforts, including enhanced regional partnerships to tackle cross-border insecurity between Congo and Uganda to restore durable peace.

The Forum for Democratic Change party, one of the main opposition political parties in Uganda, not only condemned the attack but also questioned the role of the Ugandan army that was recently sent to the eastern part of Congo.

“The objective of the operation was to eradicate the ADF rebels from Congo and effectively bring back the much-desired peace that has evaded us for decades,” FDC said. “However, despite three months passing since the deployment, there have been no tangible results. The Taxpayers’ money is  being spent without any visible outcomes to justify this expenditure.”

The party further questioned how security agencies living around the school that was attacked failed to respond on time. There was a Uganda People’s Defense Force barracks 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away and the Division Police headquarters located within 1.5 kilometers. The government is yet to respond to FDC’s concerns.

But massacres of such magnitude in this greater Rwenzori region are not new. In 1998, the ADF rebels raided Kicwamba Technical College in Kabarole district and massacred 80 students after setting their dormitories on fire. Since then, ADF has continued to wreak havoc in Uganda and on the Congo side, killing hundreds of innocent civilians.

Yet in a 2016 standoff between the Uganda military and the Rwenzururu Kingdom, over 100 civilians were killed after the Ugandan army bombed its way to the Rwenzururu Kingdom’s palace. Bodies of women, men and children littered the palace after the battle. The government later arrested King Charles Wesley Mumbere and 218 of his subjects and charged them with numerous counts of murder, attempted murder, terrorism, treason, malicious damage of property and aggravated robbery. Last week, before the ADF rebel attack, the government dropped all the charges against Mumbere and his subjects. Mumbere, who is now free, has since condemned the attack on the school and asked his subjects to remain strong.

John Semakula is a Kampala, Uganda-based reporter for New Vision, Uganda’s leading daily newspaper, and is an alumnus of The Media Project’s coaching and leadership fellowship at the Poynter Institute in Florida.