The day after the death of the Italian ambassador to the DRC, Luca Attanasio, killed during an attack in the province of North Kivu, fear is unanimous in the Italian press.
The 43-year-old diplomat's convoy was attacked while traveling as part of a visit with the World Food Program (WFP).
In Italy, it is the shock which appears on the headlines, the day after the death of the Italian ambassador killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The face of the young 43-year-old diplomat is everywhere.
Luca Attanasio was killed in an attack in eastern DRC reports
L'Avvenire
.
Gunshot wounded in North Kivu province, he did not survive his injuries.
Since then, tributes and reactions from the international community have been raining down.
Luigi Di Maio, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, notably expressed his deep sadness.
A trip as part of the World Food Program
The diplomat was in a UN convoy north of the city of Goma when an armed group targeted them, says
Il Fatto Quotidiano
.
He was on a field visit with the World Food Program (WFP) and was traveling in a MONUSCO vehicle, a United Nations mission present in the DRC for more than twenty years.
The attack took place around 10 a.m.
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Shot in the abdomen, Luca Attanasio was evacuated to the United Nations hospital in Goma.
"Our ambassador died of his gunshot wounds," deplores the
Repubblica
.
Two other people were killed in the attack: the ambassador's bodyguard, Vittorio Iacovacci, and a Congolese driver from the WFP.
People traveling with the delegation were also injured.
According to WFP, the delegation was to visit a school feeding program in Rutshuru when the attack took place.
A dangerous area
For the
Messaggero
, it would be an attempted kidnapping.
The convoy was passing through one of the most dangerous areas in Africa, the province of North Kivu, on the border with Rwanda.
Hundreds of militias are rife there, recalls
Corriere della Serra
.
Close to the scene of the tragedy are the strongholds of the Rwandan Hutu rebellion FDLR and the Congolese Hutu militias of Nyatura.
Congolese M-23 rebels are also located in the area, according to an expert from the Kivu Security Barometer (KST).
The latest attack dates back to early January, when six rangers were killed in Virunga Park, famous for its gorillas.
An ongoing investigation
Why did he not have a military escort, then wonders the media
Il Foglio
?
Rome has promised to shed light on this attack.
A team of anti-terrorist riflemen will be sent there,
Il Reformista
tells us
.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella denounced a "cowardly attack".
"It is with sorrow and a lot of sadness" that we learned "of the death of the young Italian ambassador here at home", declared the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs Marie-Thérèse Tumba Nzeza.
"The government of my country will do everything to find out who is behind this vile murder," she added.
The Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) have already denied being the perpetrators of the attack, while pointing to the responsibility of the Congolese and Rwandan army.
Luca Attanasio is the second serving European Ambassador shot dead in the DRC, after Frenchman Philippe Bernard, killed on January 28, 1993 during riots that led to looting in Kinshasa, under the reign of ex-President Mobutu Sese Seko.