Jump to content

Italian ambassador to DR Congo, Luca Attanasio, killed in militia attack

Checked
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Related articles
Location of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Collaborate!
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Yesterday, Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Luca Attanasio was killed along with two others during an attack on a World Food Programme convoy en route to Rutshuru. Attanasio reportedly was injured and later died in hospital. Attanasio was 43-years-old.

According to Virunga National Park, the attack occurred near the town of Kanyamahoro, North Kivu at approximately 10:15am local time (0815 UTC). According to the provincial governor, via the BBC, the attack was perpetrated by six men who took the passengers into Virunga National Park. The Italian foreign ministry later confirmed the death. The two others killed were military policeman Vittorio Iacovacci and a Congolese driver. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and Congolese officials suggested it was likely a kidnapping attempt.

Attanasio had served in several diplomatic missions, including Morocco and Nigeria. He had served as the ambassador to the Congo since late 2019 and been awarded the Nassiriya Peace Prize.


Sources

Share this:  E-mail this story Share on Facebook Share on reddit.com Share on LinkedIn.com Share on twitter.com


This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Italian_ambassador_to_DR_Congo,_Luca_Attanasio,_killed_in_militia_attack&oldid=4725239"