Hutu Rebels Accuse DRC, Rwanda Over Italian’s Killing

Rwandan Hutu rebels denied allegations behind the killing of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday and instead blamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwandan troops.

Luka Atanasio died injured on Monday after a fleet of World Food Program fired near the eastern city of Sesame during an excursion, according to senior diplomatic sources in Kinshasa and WFP.

The Italian government confirmed the death and said Italian police officer Vittorio Venekovatch and the driver it did not identify also died.

Congolese and UN forces secure the scene of the attack
AFP / ALEXIS HUGUET

The DRC Interior Ministry has accused the killing of “members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR),” a group of Rwandan Hutu rebels who have plagued the region for more than a quarter of a century.

However, in a statement received by AFP on Tuesday, the FDLR rejected the claim.

The ambassador’s convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, saying, “It’s not far from the positions of FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Rwandan soldiers …

Image Image of the Italian Embassy in Kinshasa after the Italian ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was killed when a UN convoy was attacked in the troubled eastern part of the country.
AFPTV / Junior KANNAH

“The responsibility for this sneaky killing lies with the ranks of these two troops and their sponsors, who have formed an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the looting of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

The FDLR denied being “involved in the attack” and called on Kinshasa and the UN peacekeeper MONUSCO to “shine light” on the killings “rather than rushing to accuse.”

Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwandan authorities have not reported the existence of regular Rwandan troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Map of the Goma region in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Italian ambassador was killed in an attack on the UN convoy
AFP / Patricio Alana

An expert at Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP: “The FDLR is near where the attack took place. Rwandan rebels may be responsible for the attack.”

Atanasio, 43, has represented Italy in Kinshasa since 2017, first serving as mission director and then ambassador since October 2019.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has confirmed what he called a “cowardly attack.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a statement calling on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to quickly investigate the “evil targets” of the UN mission.

Numerous militias roamed the four eastern states of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of which were heritage of the war in the 1990s, attacking neighboring countries in south-central Africa and killing millions.

The attack on Monday occurred in a forested mountainous region north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in one of the country’s most dangerous regions, the Nyiragongo region.

Some of the founders of the group were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where a majority of the Hutu slaughtered 800,000 people. Mainly Tutsi, but there are also moderate Hutu.

The group opposes the current Rwandan government, but has not launched a major attack in Rwanda since 2001.