Italian ambassador, 2 others, killed after gunmen ambush convoy in Congo

The Italian ambassador to Congo, an Italian Carabinieri police officer and their Congolese driver were killed Feb. 22 when gunmen attacked a U.N. convoy traveling to a school in eastern Congo, the Italian Foreign Ministry and residents said. Luca Attanasio, who had served at the Italian embassy in the country since 2017, was killed along with Carabinieri officer Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Moustapha Milambo, officials said. Other members of the convoy were wounded and taken to a hospital, the World Food Program said. Congo’s interior ministry said four others in the convoy were kidnapped, but one person has since been found by Congo’s army. The ambush occurred as the convoy was traveling from Goma, Congo’s eastern regional capital, to visit a WFP school project in Rutshuru, the U.N. agency said. The WFP said the attack occurred on a road that had been cleared previously for travel without security escorts. Eastern Congo is home to myriad rebel groups all vying for control of the mineral-rich Central African nation. (AP) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.