Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to DR Congo, was killed on Monday in an armed attack while accompanying a convoy of the Food Program (WFP), the UN organization that won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, in the North. Kivu, in the east of the country. This ambush is attributed to Rwandan Hutu rebels.
Seriously injured, the 43-year-old ambassador, married with three daughters, died a few minutes after the attack which left several injured. An Italian soldier, Vittorio Iacovacci, and the diplomat’s driver also died.
According to the Congolese Ministry of the Interior, four people were kidnapped during this attack. “One of them was found by Congolese soldiers”, it is specified.
Luca Attanasio, one of the youngest Italian ambassadors, arrived in the DRC in 2017. After being head of mission, he became ambassador in 2019.
Attanasio was also the Consul General of Italy in Casablanca between 2010 and 2013. He was married to Zakia Seddiki, a Moroccan, founder and president of the NGO “Mama Sofia”, working for young mothers and their children in Africa.
H.M.
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