Italy's ambassador to the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, and a Carabiniere, Vittorio
Iacovacci, were killed in an attack on their UN peacekeeping
convoy travelling from Goma to Bukavu in the African country on
Monday, well-informed sources told ANSA.
Attanasio died in hospital of gunshot wounds, a high-ranking
diplomat told AFP in Kinshasa.
Iacovacci was aged 30 and had been serving at the Italian
embassy in the DRC since September.
The envoy's car was part of a MONUSCO UN peacekeeping mission
convoy including the EU's delegation chief, sources said.
It was attacked with light weapons by a terrorist commando,
local sources said.
The attack was an attempted robbery, rangers at Virunga National
Park told various media outlets including The Jerusalem Post.
The attack took place at around 10 o'clock local (09:00 Italian
time), near the town of Kanyamahoro.
Several armed groups operate in the area of the Virunga
Mountains, between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, and often target
the rangers in the park, which is famous for its mountain
gorillas.
The Italian foreign ministry confirmed the killings of Attanasio
and the Carabiniere with "deep grief".
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio voiced "immense grief" after
learning of what happened while he was at an EU foreign
ministers' meeting in Brussels.
He voiced Italy's grief at the foreign ministers council
meeting, before returning from Brussels to Rome.
He said Italy would make every effort to shed light on the
incident.
He described Attanasio and the so-far unnamed Carabiniere as
"two servants of the State who have been torn (from life) with
violence while doing their duty.
"Today Italy mourns the loss of two of its sons and embraces
their families, friends and colleagues at the foreign ministry
and in the Carabinieri".
European Commission spokesperson Eri Mamer said the news of the
attack was "extremely concerning, and we are following (the
case) closely. The high representative (for foreign affairs,
Josep Borrell), has conveyed his condolences to Italy. The
(Italian) foreign minister is sharing information with his EU
colleagues".
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on
its French name, is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by
the United Nations Security Council to monitor the peace process
of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently
turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo
conflict.
The area has been racked by armed conflict for years.
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