Diplomat, 2 others slain in Congo

KINSHASA, Congo – The Italian ambassador to Congo, an Italian police officer and their Congolese driver were killed Monday when gunmen attacked a U.N. convoy, the Italian Foreign Ministry and residents said.

The ambush occurred as a U.N. convoy was traveling from Goma, Congo’s eastern regional capital, to visit a World Food Program school project in Rutshuru, the U.N. agency said.

The WFP said the attack occurred on a road that had been cleared for travel without security escorts, though it was seeking more information. Eastern Congo is home to myriad rebel groups vying for control of the mineral-rich Central African nation that is the size of Western Europe.

Luca Attanasio, serving at the Italian embassy in the country since 2017, Carabinieri officer Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver, Moustapha Milambo, were killed, officials said. Others in the convoy were wounded, WFP said.

The attack, about 15 miles north of Goma, came near Virunga National Park. North Kivu Gov. Carly Nzanzu Kasivita said the U.N. vehicles were hijacked by the attackers and taken into the bush. The Congolese army and park guards for Virunga National Park came to help those who had been attacked, he said.

“There was an exchange of fire. The attackers fired at the bodyguard and the ambassador,” the governor said.

Without citing sources, Italian state TV on Monday night said the convoy apparently was the target of a kidnapping attempt with the aim of securing ransom money.