Militants linked to ISIS kill 41 in attack on Ugandan school

Eight people are also in a critical condition at Bwera Hospital, police say

Ugandan soldiers were pursuing attackers who fled towards Virunga National Park after raiding a school, police said. AFP

The death toll in an attack on a school in western Uganda has risen to at least 41 from 25 announced earlier by police, Ugandan media outlets said on Saturday.

Privately owned NTV Uganda television said on Twitter that the toll stood at 41, while state-run New Vision newspaper said it was 42.

Members of the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan group based in eastern Congo that has pledged allegiance to ISIS, attacked Lhubirira secondary school in Mpondwe, burning a dormitory and looting food late on Friday, police said.

"So far 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital. Also recovered are eight victims, who remain in critical condition at Bwera Hospital," Ugandan police said earlier on Twitter.

Police did not say how many of the dead were schoolchildren.

Soldiers were pursuing the attackers who fled towards Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, police added.

In April, the ADF attacked a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 20 people.

Uganda has sent troops into Congo to help fight the ADF.