Italian ambassador is killed in attack on UN convoy in DR Congo 

The Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed DURING an attack on a UN convoy.

Luca Attanasio, 44, died alongside an Italian soldier and a second man – believed to be his driver – during an attack on the convoy near Goma on Monday.

Attanasio, who was married, suffered ‘gunshot wounds to the abdomen’ and was taken to hospital in critical condition, where he died of his wounds. 

The diplomat had been based in the country for the last three years, Italian officials said. The officer who died alongside him was aged 30. 

A spokesman for the Italian foreign ministry said: ‘It is with deep sorrow that the Farnesina confirms the death, today in Goma, of the Ambassador of Italy to the Democratic Republic of Congo Luca Attanasio and of a soldier from the Carabinieri.’

More to follow…