Rwanda rebel group FDLR blamed for assassination of Italian ambassador to DR Congo

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has blamed Rwandan militia based in the country’s east for the attack on a UN convoy on Monday, February 22, in which an Italian Ambassador was killed.

Italian ambassador, Luca Attanasio, and a military policeman – also Italian – who was travelling with him were killed together with a staff member of World Food Programme (WFP).

They were travelling in a UN convoy in the east of the country.

That same day, the Congolese Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement regretting the deadly incident and blamed the killings on “members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR),” a militia formed by remnants of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.

In the statement, Kinshasa vowed to do whatever it takes to purge the east of the country of militia groups, local and external, that are being supported by entities hinged on pillaging its natural resource wealth.

Earlier, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi also “very strongly” condemned what he termed as a “terrorist attack” and promised an investigation.

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN “strongly” condemned the attack and said “the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”

The DRC Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that the Congolese security services and provincial authorities had not been given advance warning and were thus unable to provide security for the convoy.

When the attack happened, the deceased Italian ambassador and his team were travelling from Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, to visit a WFP-run school feeding programme in Rutshuru, about 40 miles north of Goma.

The attack occurred north of Goma, in Nyiaragongo Territory where the FDLR militia operates from.

Last week, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, issued a statement indicating that atrocities committed by armed groups in the eastern DR Congo have become part of a systematic pattern to disrupt lives, instill fear and create havoc.

The New Times