Murder of Luca Attanasio

Killing of Luca Attanasio
North Kivu province, the location of the killing
LocationNorth Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date22 February 2021
10:15 a.m. (UTC+02:00)[1]
Attack type
Ambush, attempted kidnapping, mass shooting
Deaths3
AccusedFDLR (alleged by DRC,[2][3] denied by the group[4][5])

Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was killed on 22 February 2021 along with two other people when a World Food Programme (WFP) delegation travelling on a field visit was attacked by armed individuals.[6][7] The two-vehicle convoy with seven people was travelling in the Congolese province of North Kivu, from the province's capital of Goma to a WFP school feeding programme in Rutshuru, a town 70 kilometres north of Goma, on a route that would have taken the vehicles through Virunga National Park.[6] The attack occurred at 10:15 a.m. local time near the townships of Kibumba[8] and Kanyamahoro.[9] The WFP and North Kivu governor Carly Nzanzu said the convoy did not have a security escort at the time of the attack.[10][11] In 2023, six men were convicted of murder.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference L'Express was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Per l'ambasciatore ucciso c'è la pista dei guerriglieri del Ruanda". AGI – Agenzia Italiana (in Italian). 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  3. ^ Mahamba, Fiston; Bujakera, Stanis (22 February 2021). "Italy's envoy to Congo killed in attack on U.N. convoy". Reuters. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  4. ^ ""Ambasciatore e carabiniere uccisi dai rapitori"". Adnkronos (in Italian). 23 February 2021. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  5. ^ Kamale, James-Yves; Petesch, Carley (23 February 2021). "Congo, Italy dispatch investigators into ambassador's death". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b Specia, Megan; Pianigiani, Gaia (22 February 2021). "Italian Ambassador Among Three Killed in Attack on U.N. Convoy in Congo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. ^ "L'ambasciatore Luca Attanasio e il carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci uccisi in agguato in Congo. Mattarella: "Lutto per servitori dello Stato"". il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  8. ^ @MONUSCO (22 February 2021). "L'attaque a eu lieu à Kibumba, à 25 kilomètres au nord-est de Goma, dans la province du Nord-Kivu" (Tweet) (in French) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Burke, Jason; Giuffrida, Angela (22 February 2021). "Italian ambassador to DR Congo dies in attack on UN convoy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Attack on World Food Programme field mission in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo | World Food Programme". www.wfp.org. 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  11. ^ Uaykani, Alain (22 February 2021). "Italian ambassador to DR Congo dies after WFP convoy attacked". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.