An attack by an alleged group of rebels on Lhubiriha secondary school in the border town of Mpondwe, western Uganda, on Friday left 41 bodies, 38 of them students. The information was released today by the authorities.

The police blamed Friday's attack on rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, who have been operating from their bases in eastern Congo for years.

According to the mayor of Mpondwe, Selevest Mapoze, quoted by the Associated Press (AP), the bodies of 38 students, a guard and two people shot at the entrance to the school have been recovered.

The school, which is mixed and private, is located in the Ugandan district of Kasese, about two kilometers from the border with Congo.

"A dormitory was set on fire and a food warehouse was looted," the police said in an initial statement, which reported the recovery of 25 bodies, transferred to Bwera Hospital, and eight people in critical condition, as well as the existence of abductees.

Meanwhile, the authorities' statement said that Ugandan troops pursued the attackers to Virunga National Park, in Congo, "to rescue the kidnapped".