EU Imposes Sanctions on ADF Leader Ahmad Mahmood Hassan for Barbaric Assault on Lhubiriha SS.

The European Union (EU) has taken decisive action against Ahmad Mahmood Hassan, the top commander of the notorious Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel in response to the recent horrific attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School in the Kasese District of southwestern Uganda

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Mahmood Hassan aka Abu Waqas aka Jundi aka Muwarabu was pinned to be the mastermind behind the attack on the school in Mpondwe near the Uganda-DRC border which left 44 people, mainly students killed.

“Ahmad Mahmood Hassan is a senior leader of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a non-governmental armed group operating in Uganda and the Eastern DRC,” the EU noted, “He has been identified as holding key responsibilities in the ADF, including command of a camp, training of recruits, production of bombs, online outreach and rapprochement with ISIL (Da’esh),” the EU said in the sanctions announced over the weekend.

“Owing to his senior leading position within the ADF and his direct involvement in the planning and conduct of ADF attacks, Ahmad Mahmood Hassan is therefore involved in planning, directing or committing acts that constitute serious human rights violations or abuses in the DRC,” the EU statement emphasised.

According to the EU Statement, the man at the centre of directing the bombings is a Tanzanian national Hassan whose particulars it added to its list of sanctioned entities and individuals pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1183/2005. 

It remains unclear how the sanctions will affect the targeted individual who mainly operates from the dense forests of the Eastern DRC.

The attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School sent shockwaves through the nation and the international community. Innocent lives were lost, and many others were left injured and traumatized. 

The EU's swift response to this act of violence demonstrates its commitment to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region. The sanctions imposed on Ahmad Mahmood Hassan aim to hold him accountable for the heinous actions carried out by the ADF under his command. This measure is part of the EU's broader efforts to combat terrorism and support countries affected by such atrocities. By targeting the top leadership of the ADF, the EU seeks to disrupt the group's operations and dismantle its network of violence and terror. Sanctions can have significant

Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, the spokesperson of UPDF welcome the sanctions and said whereas ADF as a terrorist group is internationally-sanctioned, targeting some of its top commanders such as Hassan for punishment would limit their mobility and likely choke financial flows to the outfit.

Some of the attacks in DRC happened in January and April in Kasindi and Goma, respectively.
It should be noted that the ADF started out in 1989 as a Ugandan rebel group based in the western part of the country from where the UPDF dislodged it into the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).