Italian ambassador killed in Democratic Republic of Congo

THE Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and an Italian military police officer have been killed while travelling in the country in a United Nations convoy.

The ambush on the World Food Programme (WFP) convoy that killed ambassador Luca Attanasio and the officer occurred near Goma, the capital of the African nation’s North

Kivu province. Their Congolese driver was also killed in the attack.

The WFP said it was seeking information from local authorities, as the ambush occurred on a road that had previously been cleared for travel without security escorts.

Mambo Kaway, president of a local civil society group, said: “There were five people aboard the vehicle, including the Italian ambassador. The driver died after being shot with several bullets, and others were wounded. The situation is very tense.” The wounded were taken to a nearby UN hospital.

The east of the country is home to many rebel groups, all vying for control of the mineral-rich land. More than 2,000 civilians were killed last year in the region due to violence by armed groups, whose brutal attacks have also displaced millions in what the UN calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

There are 5.2 million people displaced in the central African nation, according to the United Nations Children’s Agency, more than in any other country except Syria.