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Italy's Ambassador to DRC Killed in Ambush

VOA News

   Italy's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congohas beenkilled in
   anattack on a United Nationsconvoynear the eastern Congolese city of
   Goma.

   The U.N. World Food Program saysat least two other people were killed
   and several more injured in the attackMondaythat killed
   ItalianambassadorLuca Attanasio.

   A United Nations spokesmantells VOA the other two fatalities were an
   Italian national and a Congolese WFP driver.The spokesman saysthe
   attack targetedtwo WFP vehicles traveling about 25 kilometers northeast
   ofGoma.

   No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

   AWFPstatementsaidthe delegation was traveling from Goma to visit a WFP
   school feeding program inRutshuru when the incident took place. It
   notedthat the attack"occurred on a road that had previously
   beenclearedfor travel without security escorts."

   Reuters, citing the Virunga National Park, reports the convoy was
   attacked near the town ofKanyamahoroas part of a kidnap attempt.

   Italy'sForeign Minister Luigi Di Maiohas[1]issuedastatement expressing
   his "greatdismay and immense sorrow" over the deaths of his
   compatriots. "The circumstances of this brutal attack are not yet known
   and no effort will be spared to shed light on what happened," Di
   Maiosays.

   Congo's mineral-rich east has been a battleground for numerous armed
   groups for more than two decades,sincemilitants involved in Rwanda's
   1994 genocide fled across the porous border. U.N.peacekeepers have
   attempted to restore peace in the region for more than a decade.

   The most active group currently appears to be the Allied Democratic
   Forces, a violent Ugandan rebel group that seeks to establishSharialaw.
   The group appears to have ramped up its attacks in recent months,
   capturing villages, killing civilians, recruiting child soldiers and
   sparring with the Congolese army.

   The infrastructure-poor area has also, in the past three years, seen an
   outbreak of Ebola, the largest in the nation's history.

References

   1. https://ambkinshasa.esteri.it/ambasciata_kinshasa/it/ambasciata/news/dall_ambasciata/2021/02/dichiarazione-del-ministro-luigi.html

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