Italian Ambassador to DRC killed in attack on UN Convoy

Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed in an attack on a UN convoy, the Italian foreign ministry said.

The ambassador was on a fact finding mission

The attack happened on Goma Rumangabo stretch near Kibaati Town

Undersecretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of UN peacekeeping operations, also said he lacked details. But he told reporters in a previously-scheduled briefing the incident occurred about 25 km from Goma and involved “a WFP convoy of two vehicles on a road that was determined safe for a transit without escort.”

“There is a presence, actually a significant presence of MONUSCO in Goma so certainly peacekeepers were no further than 25 km” from the ambush site, Lacroix said.