Kampala/Arua — An American missionary couple was killed Thursday night when armed men attacked their home in Yumbe district.

A student at the Evangelical School of Technology was also killed in the attack, which left several houses burnt and property destroyed.

The couple, which worked for a missionary organisation "Here is Life", had lived in Aringa, Yumbe since last year.

"An American missionary couple was serving with African Inland Mission (AIM), Warren and Donna Pett were shot and killed," a press release signed by the AIM executive officer, William Stough said.

"One student was killed and another injured," the release added. The attackers torched 12 huts and two pick-up trucks in the area-a strategy mainly used by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army who also operate in the region.

But police and the army could not immediately say who was responsible for the murders. "I think they were just thugs who were after the missionaries' money or anything else," army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza said.

He said the army yesterday sent a team of officers to investigate the incident.

Bantariza said the area brigade commander, Maj. Justus Besasira, and an intelligence officer from Division 4 headquarters in Gulu are leading the investigators.

The Northern region Police Commander Geofrey Erach told The Monitor that the seven attackers wore military fatigues. The bodies of Warren and Donna were flown out of the country yesterday.

In 2001, two missionaries were shot and wounded by unknown gunmen in the district.