The attack took place on Tuesday night in Mizizi A, a hamlet in Kagadi district in western Uganda, about 250 km from the capital Kampala. Eight others were injured, police said.

“Preliminary information indicates that members of a yet-to-be-named new cult descended on people, most of whom are their family members, and beheaded them,” the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces said.

Security forces, including the army and police, were at the scene “looking for the culprits as investigations are ongoing to establish more details about the cult,” the statement said.

Four of those killed were under the age of 13, including a three-year-old child, police said.

Police said two of the suspected attackers were killed by security forces while responding to the attack.

Kagadi is near the Kingfisher oil field, one of two crude oil projects in Uganda and is operated by China’s CNOOC. There was no indication that the oil field was targeted or involved in any way.