(LifeSiteNews) — The people of the Kasese district of western Uganda are asking for prayers after terrorists with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) entered Lhubiriha Secondary School last Friday and killed at least 40 people, primarily children.

Speaking to LifeSiteNews under the condition of anonymity, a person from Nyabugando Parish, the village where the school is located, said the locals “are in fear” after the deadly attack and that they “can’t even go in the garden to get some food” because they are “traumatized.”

The person told LifeSiteNews that the event was “extremely terrible” for the village, and that in addition to at least 42 fatalities,” ADF rebels from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)” also “abducted some boys.”

“So, whoever is there, kindly pray for us,” the person pleaded. “And if possible, do some mortification.” 

“Thank you very much,” the local concluded.

As reported by Open Doors Canada, the attack took place last Friday and was carried out by at least five ADF militants.

The terrorists reportedly used machetes to kill their victims while also lighting the school on fire, according to the BBC.

While the local person told LifeSiteNews that some boys were abducted, Open Doors Canada reported that “several girls were abducted,” but that the majority of the fatally wounded were school-aged males.

The school itself was named after one its former directors, a Canadian man named Peter Hunt, and was built with the help of a Canada-based non-profit called the British Columbia-based Partnerships for Opportunity Development Association (PODA).

According to Open Doors Canada, the ADF was formed in 1995 “through an agreement between portions of Uganda’s Tabliq Islamic sect and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda,” and while it still operates in Uganda, it primarily carries out its attacks in the DRC.

The group is characterized as having an “Islamic expansionist agenda,” with Christians counting “among the most severely affected.”

An extremely violent group, Open Doors Canada says “[i]t is estimated that at least 300 people have been killed in ADF attacks in North Kivu province of the DRC alone since the beginning of the year, most of them Christians.”