The road where the attack took place which claimed the life of the Italian ambassador in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday did not require a military escort, according to a UN source.
Read also: The Italian Ambassador to the DRC killed in an armed attack in the east of the country
The attack on the convoy in which Ambassador Luca Attanasio was located took place in the province of North Kivu (East), on national road 2, which runs very closely along the Rwandan border, in an area of dense forest and mountainous, where the borders are not watertight.
"
This road was validated without escort, but with the obligation of a convoy of at least two vehicles
," said a UN humanitarian official in the country on Tuesday (February 23), speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the Congolese presidency, the ambassador "
arrived in Goma on Friday February 19 at 10:30 am, aboard a jet from Monusco
", the United Nations Mission in Congo.
He left Goma on Monday morning in "
a convoy of two vehicles of the World Food Program (WFP)
" for the commune of Kiwanja, in the territory of Rutshuru, accompanied by his bodyguard and agents of this humanitarian agency.
The convoy was ambushed 3 km from their destination, when "
the assailants, six in number, armed with five AK-47-type weapons and a machete
" burst in, the Congolese presidency said.
"
They proceeded by warning shots before forcing the occupants of the vehicles to get off and follow them into the far end of the park (Virunga) and this, after having shot down one of the drivers in order to create panic
" , adds the presidency.
Alerted, the rangers and the Congolese soldiers present in the surroundings started in pursuit of the attackers.
“
500 m (from the scene of the attack), the kidnappers shot point blank at the bodyguard, who died on the spot, and at the ambassador, wounding him in the abdomen
”.
Kinshasa accused the Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) of being the perpetrators of the attack.
The latter, in a statement, rejected these allegations, pointing the finger at the Congolese and Rwandan armies.
The Congolese and Rwandan authorities systematically deny any presence of Rwandan troops on the territory of the DRC.
According to an expert from the Kivu Security Barometer (KST), “
the FDLR are close to where the attack took place.
It is possible that these Rwandan rebels are responsible for this attack,
”he explained.
