Italian Ambassador Killed,Hutu Rebels Blame Congo and Rwanda

KIGALI - The Hutu rebel group denied that they were the cause of the death of the Italian Ambassador (Ambassador) to Congo . Instead, they blamed Rwandan and Congolese soldiers for the incident. The allegations come amidst detailed reports of the attack itself that are not yet certain. Italy's ambassador to Congo, Luca Attanasio, 43, died on Monday after a World Food Program (WFP) convoy was ambushed in a dangerous part of eastern Congo.

The bodyguard of the Italian envoy, Vittorio Iacovacci, and a driver from Congolese origin who have not been identified were also killed en route to the field.

An Italian military plane departed eastern Congo on Tuesday afternoon to retrieve the bodies of Attanasio and Iacovacci. Their coffins are wrapped in the Italian flag.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his wife previously paid "condolence visits" to Attanasio's widow and three children at the residence of the Italian ambassador.

Congo's interior ministry on Monday blamed the killing on members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - the Rwandan Hutu rebel group that has ravaged the region for more than a quarter of a century.

But the FDLR rejects the accusation, blaming the Rwandan army and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) for the attack in its statement Tuesday (23/2/2021).

It said the ambassador's convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, not far from the FARDC position.

"Responsibility for this heinous killings is found in the ranks of these two soldiers and their sponsors who have formed an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the plunder of eastern Congo," the rebel Hutu was quoted as saying by France24 .

Congolese and Rwandan authorities have not reported the presence of regular Rwandan troops in Congo.

Also read:Congolese Rebels Slaughter Dozens of Ethnic Pygmies, Some Beheaded

But an expert at Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP that Hutu rebel groups were known to be present in the region.

"The FDLR is close to where the attack took place. It is possible that Rwandan rebels were responsible for this attack," said the expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dozens of militias roam the four eastern provinces of Congo, many of them legacy of the war in the 1990s that consumed countries around south-central Africa and claimed millions of lives.

Some of the founders of the FDLR were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which the Hutu majority massacred 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi but also moderate Hutu.

The group opposes the current Rwandan government, but has not launched a large-scale attack on Rwanda since 2001.