Italian Ambassador to the DRC Died in Gun Battle

GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo Luca Attanasio was in a World Food Programme convoy with six other people when they were ambushed on February 22, 2021.

According to France 24, which cites the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, six assailants, armed with five AK-47s and a machete, forced the convoy to stop by firing warning shots.

The assailants forced those in the vehicles to get out and shot dead one of the drivers, identified by the WFP as Moustapha Milambo, to ensure the rest complied.

The assailants then forced the others — four WFP workers, the ambassador, and his bodyguard, Italian carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci — to follow them into the bush.

At this point a DRC army unit and park rangers responded and a gun battle ensued.

Italian prosecutor Alberto Pioletti told CNN Ambassador Attanasio and his bodyguard Iacovacci were hit by two bullets each.

Pioletti said the two died in a gunbattle, and were not killed execution-style, as had previously been reported.