Ambassador Luca Attanasio and Carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci killed in an ambush in the Congo. Mattarella: “Mourning for the servants of the State”



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The jeep convoy of the World Food Program in which they traveled was assaulted by a group of armed men who opened fire on the vehicles in an attempt to kidnap the Italian ambassador in Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio. According to intelligence sources, the group of six guerrillas later took the prisoners to the forest where, however, they were killed during the shooting with the local park rangers. This is how the diplomat lost his life, 44 years to complete, who leaves behind his wife and three daughters, the carabiniere. Vittorio Iacovacci, 30 years old, and thedriver of the vehicle in which they were traveling. According to sources cited byAdnkronos, the Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, responsible for the violence and kidnappings for profit, the main remaining group of Rwandan rebels who adhere to the doctrine of‘Hutu power’ and operating in the eastern part of the country. The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation file: procedure for kidnapping for terrorist purposes. The Capitoline magistrates, competent for crimes committed abroad with Italian victims, have delegated the investigations to the Carabinieri del Ros that will arrive tomorrow. Kinshasa, the capital of the country.

The convoy, made up of Seven people divided into three cars, was attacked around 10 am near the city of Kanyamahoro, in the eastern part of the country, near Rubber: “The perpetrators of the attack had how target the main one is the Italian diplomat ”, write some local media. They traveled with him World Food Program “From Goma to visit Wfp’s school food distribution program a Rutshuru“Let the UN agency know that you specify:” Previously there was authorized trip on that road without a security escort“As you can see in the photos showing the use of jeeps unshielded in an area of ​​the country considered advertisement high risk. The authorization reportedly came from the local government.

The ambush took place “near Goma (North-Kivu) in the territory of Nyiragongo”, according to local media that add: “The Fardc”, that is, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo “, and the Virunga guards . National Park “. “The area is considered dangerous due to the particular presence of the rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (Fdlr) that ambush the RN4 starting from the park ”, adds the site. A high-ranking diplomat Kinshasa explained toAfp that Attanasio died “as a result of his injuries” after being hit by bullets fired by the assassins at the convoy.

According to various sources, the six members of the commando first killed the Congolese driver and then took the rest of the people into the forest surrounding the ambush site. A few hundred meters away was a patrol from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature and also a unit of the Congolese army, which came to the rescue of the hostages. The rest is still unclear. It seems that just as the Institute patrol went into action, the attackers fired at the ambassador’s bodyguard, resulting in the death of both. One of the survivors, questioned by local authorities, allegedly said that the attackers were talking to each other in kinyarwanda and who addressed the hostages in Swahili.

Congolese police had not been informed of the Italian ambassador’s visit to the Virunga National Park area with a convoy from the World Food Program, he told the Dpa the general of the national police Abba van, saying he was “surprised” that the diplomat had gone to the region without a police convoy.

“It is with deep pain that the Farnesina confirms the death, today in Goma, of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Luca Attanasio and a Carabinieri soldier. The ambassador and the soldier were traveling aboard a car in a convoy of World Food Program“, Officially announced from Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, they say “consternation” at the “vile attack”: “The Italian Republic is in mourning for these servants of the State who have lost their lives in the fulfillment of their professional duties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – he wrote in a message of condolence – disapproving of this treacherous act of violence, all Italians gather in condolence around the families of the victims, to whom I wish to send my deepest condolences and greatest solidarity ”. The first Minister, Mario draghi, expresses its deepest condolences and to the government. The Prime Minister and executive representatives cling to family members, Farnesina and Carabinieri’s colleagues, reads a note from Palazzo Chigi.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi di maio, learned the news of the death of the ambassador and the carabiniere while he was in the Cae di Brussels. Proved immense pain for what happened. The minister, after informing his colleagues in the EU of the tragic event, has decided to leave the work of the CEE soon and is currently returning to Italy. “I learned with consternation and immense pain of the death today of our Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of a Carabinieri soldier – declared Di Maio – Two state servants who were violently torn from us in the line of duty. The circumstances of this brutal attack are not yet known and no effort will be spared to shed light on what happened. Today the State laments the loss of two of its exemplary children and gathers around families, friends and colleagues in the Farnesina and the Carabinieri ”.



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