An attack on a school in Uganda has left at least 37 people dead. Authorities say the massacre was carried out by an extremist group based in the jungles of neighboring Congo.

The militants attacked the school late Friday night. They slashed victims with machetes and used explosives to set the school on fire.

The victims include the students, a guard and two members of the local community.

Around 60 students were housed in a dormitory on site. Six abducted students were forced to carry away food the militants had looted.

Ugandan army and police say they are searching for the attackers, and hoped to rescue the abducted victims. They say the militants are members of the extremist group, the Allied Democratic Forces.

The group was established in the early 1990s and has staged terrorism and attacks in Uganda and eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.