Officials load the bodies of the slain Italian ambassador to Democratic Republic of Congo Luca Attanasio and his security Vittorio Iacovacci, who were both killed in an attempted kidnapping. [Reuters]The bodies of Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and his bodyguard arrived back in Rome on Tuesday aboard a military aircraft, a day after they were shot dead following an ambush in eastern Congo. Ambassador Luca Attanasio, 43, and his bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci, 30, were killed while travelling in a United Nations’ World Food Programme convoy to visit a school feeding project. The FDLR, one of around 120 armed groups operating in eastern Congo, denied responsibility for what it called a “cowardly assassination”. Attanasio was the first ever Italian ambassador to be killed while in service.

Source: Standard Digital February 24, 2021 06:56 UTC