Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to the DRC, was assassinated Monday, February 22 on the Goma-Rutshuru road. The driver and the bodyguard were also shot dead.
According to Radio Okapi, this triple crime was committed by an armed group on a convoy of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kanyamahoro. Luca Attanasio was taken to the MONUSCO hospital but doctors were unable to save him.
The Rwandan ambassador in Paris and Permanent Delegate to the WFP in particular, Dr. François Ngarambe, condemned the crime. “Let us all condemn this despicable crime that Ambassador Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard and his driver have just been victims of,” he asked. “My deepest condolences to their families, and to all their colleagues and friends,” he expressed his sympathy.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said he was shocked by the attack. “Security and peace must be assured,” he said. He reaffirmed the commitment of the European Union to the DRC and its people.
“It is a sad and dark day for our country,” said the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio. “We learned with great dismay and immense pain the death of our ambassador to the DRC, Luca Attanasio and a soldier of the Gendarmerie, Vittorio Lacovacci,” he expressed his emotion. “The circumstances of this brutal attack are not yet known and no effort will be spared to shed light on what happened,” he said. “Today, the State mourns the loss of two of its children and joins their families, friends and colleagues,” he showed the solidarity of his government to all those who are mourning.
Ambassador Luca Attanasio was 46 years old. He had been stationed in Kinshasa since 2017.
Gerard Rugambwa
