KAMPALA - At least 38 pupils and three adults have been killed in an attack on a school in Uganda by a rebel group linked to Isis, according to local authorities.

The attack took place at Lhubiriha school in the Kasese district in western Uganda, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), police say.

The attackers burnt down a dormitory and looted food from the school’s stores, national police spokesperson Fred Enanga said.

Some of the children were burnt or hacked to death while many other pupils, mostly girls have been abducted by the group, Major General Dick Olum from the Ugandan army told the media.

The attack took place on Friday night and the death toll was initially put at 25. Officials said later on Saturday that 41 bodies had been recovered, including 38 schoolchildren, one guard and two members of the local community who were shot outside the school.

Authorities were still trying to extinguish the fire by Saturday morning local time, officials said, and they feared more dead bodies would be recovered.

Bodies were taken to Bwera Hospital, officials say. Eight people still remain in critical condition.

They have identified the attackers as being from a militant group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has sworn allegiance to Isis.

The military was in “hot pursuit” of the attackers to rescue the abducted pupils, a spokesperson said. Officials believe the ADF attackers were headed towards the Virunga National Park, the major said.

The ADF has been responsible for several attacks in Congo in recent years including killing 30 soldiers and three civillians in 2021.

The group has been active since the 2000s and largely consists of local rebel fighters from DRC claiming responsibility for attacks using an Isis flag. It was first publicly recognised by Isis as an affiliate in late 2018 after an attack on the armed forces of the DRC, according to the US state department.

According to the United Nations, there are more than 100 armed groups operating in the DRC.