Two arrested of Italian ambassador’s death in Congo

Two suspects in the 2021 killing of Italian ambassador, Luca Attanasio in Congo, have been arrested according to the police chief of the country’s North Kivu province.

Another suspect, who allegedly fired shots at Attanasio, remains on the run, said the police chief, in comments made on Tuesday.

Investigators said Attanasio was the victim of a kidnapping attempt gone wrong. The attackers had hoped to ransom him off for millions, they said.

Instead, when an armed group attacked the ambassador’s convoy on February 22, the ambassador ended up dead, as did his bodyguard, Vittorio Iacovacci and his Congolese driver, Mustapha Milambo. Multiple others in the convoy suffered injuries.

A group of rangers who happened to be in the area fought off the attackers, but the diplomat died of his injuries, aged 43. The convoy had been under way from Goma to get a look at a school meal program in the Rutshuru region.

It had been using a road that had recently been cleared to use without security escort, according to the World Food Program.