Italian ambassador to the Republic of Congo kidnapped and murdered in the jungle

The Italian Ambassador in the Republic of Congo Luca Attanasio he was murdered Today with his guard and a driver in an attack on a UN convoy, belonging to the World Food Program (WFP).

The attack took place near Goma, the capital of the eastern region and Nyrangongo territory, in North Kivu. “There were five people in the vehicle, including the Italian ambassador,” said Mambo Kaway, chairman of a civilian group in Nyrangongo territory. “The driver died after being shot several times, and others were injured, ”he added.

Based on initial reconstruction from local law enforcement sources, the Italian ambassador was trained in the jungle by their attackers, as well as the other members of the delegation, after eliminating the driver of the vehicle in which they were traveling, and there Attanasio was murdered with his guardian.

Attanasio was traveling to Rutshuru territory to inspect WFP activities. On the way, six armed men they forced the convoy to stop by shooting in the air. According to reports, A Congolese driver died soon after, while the rest of the convoy was transferred inside the jungle.

The attackers, apparently alerted by a patrol from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, shot the bodyguard and the ambassador.

Born in Saronno, in the north of Italy, about 30 kilometers from Milan, on May 23, 1977, Luca Attanasio joined the diplomatic service in 2003. He arrived in the Republic of Congo in 2017 as head of mission and was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 2019. His assassination sparked consternation and indignation across the country over the armed attack on the World Food Program (WFP) convoy and the violent death of the Ambassador.

A graduate of the prestigious Bocconi University in Milan, Attanasio obtained a doctorate in international politics and was a business consultant. His first missions abroad were as Secretary of Commerce at the Italian Embassy in Switzerland, from 2006 to 2010, and Consul in Casablanca, Morocco, from 2010 to 2013.

Serving from 2013 to 2015 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, he was Secretary to the Head of the Department of Globalization and Global Affairs. In 2015, he returned to Africa as the First Counselor of the Italian Embassy in Nigeria, and moved to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in September 2017.

Last year, he received the International Peace Nassiriya Prize “for his commitment to safeguarding peace among peoples” and “for having contributed to the realization of important projects.

AP, AFP and ANSA

THE NATION