Congo attack: the video of the attack on Ambassador Attanasio’s car
Yesterday, Monday 22 February, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, died in an attack on a United Nations convoy in eastern Congo, together with a soldier of the Carabinieri, the thirty year old Vittorio Iacovacci (here his story), and to the driver Mustapha Milambo (here a profile of him).
The ambassador and the police officer were traveling on board a car of a convoy of the Monusco, the United Nations Stabilization Organization mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, visiting a school run by the World Food Program (WfP). According to what UN sources told InfoAfrica / AGI, the convoy on which the Italian ambassador was traveling was not escorted by the UN mission blue helmets in the country.
An exclusive video published by the newspaper La Repubblica shows the moments of the ambush in Kibumba, the site of the attack. Among the screams a sentence stands out: “Here they are, here they are. Are they. They are taking off their uniforms ”. Armed groups operating in the area, which borders Virunga Park, often wear ranger uniforms to create confusion.
🔴 Exclusive video of the moment of the attack on the car of Ambassador Attanasio, killed in Congo together with the carabiniere Iacovacci and the driver https://t.co/6iKY8DIxLt
– Republic (@republic) February 23, 2021
The convoy was passing near the city of Kanyamahoro when an armed commando, according to a spokesman for the Virunga National Park, assaulted the group. According to reports Republic, the ambassador would have been hit during the firefight between the rebels and the Virunga rangers.
At that point the rebels started to flee, taking Iacovacci with them. After about a kilometer and a half they killed the carabiniere, leaving the body there. For this reason, the soldier’s body would be the last to be pulled from the forest by the army and rangers.
Read also: 1. “They say it’s dangerous, but being an ambassador is a mission”: Attanasio’s speech on life in Congo / 2. Attack in Congo, the Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio and a carabiniere dead / 3. Luca Attanasio, who was the Italian ambassador killed in Congo / 4. Vittorio Iacovacci, who was the carabiniere killed in Congo together with the ambassador Luca Attanasio
5. Luca Attanasio, Diego Bianchi’s interview in 2019 with the ambassador killed in Congo | VIDEO / 6. In 2020, Ambassador Attanasio and his wife Zakia had won an award for their commitment to peace / 7. Who is Zakia Seddiki, the wife of Ambassador Attanasio (awarded together with him in 2020) / 8. “Luca was a force of nature”: the mayor of Limbiate remembers the ambassador killed in Congo
