Suspected cult members launched a brutal attack on a village in Uganda, leaving at least eight people dead, including a three-year-old child and some of the attackers' own family members, authorities reported on Wednesday.
The attack took place on Tuesday night in Mizizi A, a village in Uganda's western Kagadi district, roughly 250 km from Kampala. Eight others were wounded, according to police.
"Preliminary information suggests that members of a newly-formed cult, whose name is yet to be confirmed, targeted people—most of them their own family members—and attacked them with weapons," the Uganda People's Defence Forces reported.
Security forces, including military and police personnel, are on the scene, actively searching for the attackers. Investigations are underway to learn more about the cult.
Among the victims, four were children under the age of 13, including a three-year-old, police stated. During the response to the attack, security forces killed two suspected assailants.
Kagadi district is near the Kingfisher oilfield, one of Uganda’s two crude oil projects operated by China’s CNOOC. Authorities clarified that there was no indication the oilfield was targeted or involved in the attack.
