Seventeen people were killed on Friday April 24 in an ambush by an armed group inside Virunga National Park, a natural and tourist jewel in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) on the border of Rwanda.

In addition to the 12 guards, all men aged 23 to 31, a driver of the park was killed as well as four civilians "unrelated to the park", communicated in the evening the Virunga on their site, pointing to the responsibility of rebels Rwandan Hutus. "Three other guards were seriously injured. The life-threatening situation is in danger for two of them," added the park, adding that they were hospitalized. Two other civilians were injured.

It is one of the heaviest attacks targeting some 700 Virunga rangers, 176 of whom have been killed in 20 years, in this region of Kivu destabilized by the violence of armed groups for a quarter of a century.

"Unheard of violence"

The attack was carried out near Virunga headquarters in Rumangabo, in the mountains of Rutshuru territory. "On their way back from a mission to headquarters, the guards were victims of an attack by individuals, numerous and heavily armed. The exchanges of fire lasted 30 minutes and were of incredible violence ", details the Virunga park. The rangers are themselves generally armed for their mission. "A civilian vehicle was nearby and had already been targeted by the attackers before the guards arrived," the same source said.

"Precise indications obtained in recent hours designate the armed group FDLR-FOCA as the author of this killing," advises the park, saying that "the attack is an ambush whose motives are not established at this stage".

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a group of Rwandan Hutu rebels refugees in DR Congo, some of whose founders in the early 2000s participated in the genocide against Tutsis in 1994. The leader of the FLDR Sylvestre Mudacumura was killed in North Kivu on September 18, the Congolese authorities announced, congratulated on the occasion by Kigali. For several months, persistent rumors indicate a direct presence of the Rwandan army on Congolese soil to lead the offensive against the FDLR with the Congolese forces.

Mountain Gorilla Sanctuary

Covering an area of ​​7,769 km2, the Virunga cover part of the province of North Kivu (almost 60,000 km2), especially along the border with Rwanda and Uganda. The oldest natural reserve in Africa inaugurated in 1925, the park is a sanctuary for mountain gorillas.

But the park is also the field of action for dozens of armed groups active in the region. In May 2018, Virunga Park had suspended its tourist activity, following the kidnapping of two British tourists, who were finally released. An eco-guard was killed in this attack. The park reopened to tourists in February 2019. In 2014, the park director, Emmanuel de Mérode, was injured in an armed attack.

With AFP

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