Solved case · 2021
Also known as murder of Luca Attanasio · Luca Attanasio's murder
The short answer
Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard, and a UN driver were killed on 22 February 2021 when a World Food Programme convoy was attacked in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Six men were convicted of murder in 2023 and sentenced to life in prison.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Luca AttanasioOn 22 February 2021, Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was killed along with two other people when a World Food Programme (WFP) delegation on a field visit was attacked by armed individuals. The two-vehicle convoy, carrying seven people, was travelling in North Kivu province from the provincial capital Goma to a WFP school feeding programme in Rutshuru, a town 70 kilometres north of Goma, on a route passing through Virunga National Park. The attack occurred at approximately 10:15 a.m. local time near the townships of Kibumba and Kanyamahoro. The WFP and North Kivu governor Carly Nzanzu stated the convoy did not have a security escort at the time of the attack.
The convoy was stopped by armed gunmen on National Route 2 inside Virunga National Park. The attackers killed one person at the scene, identified as Congolese United Nations driver Mustapha Milambo. The remaining members of the delegation were led into the bush by the assailants, where an exchange of gunfire occurred. During this exchange, Attanasio and his bodyguard, 30-year-old carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci, were mortally wounded; other convoy members were also injured. Attanasio was shot in the abdomen and died before reaching a hospital in Goma. According to prosecutor Alberto Pioletti, autopsies indicated Attanasio and Iacovacci were killed during a shootout rather than an execution-style killing, and the investigation concluded the attack had been a failed kidnapping rather than a targeted assassination.
The bodies of Attanasio and Iacovacci were repatriated to Italy by military aircraft and met by Prime Minister Mario Draghi in a ceremony on the tarmac. Draghi requested that the United Nations and WFP open an investigation. Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi wrote to Attanasio's widow, Zakia Seddiki, stating his government had begun an investigation in Goma. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the circumstances remained unclear and that no effort would be spared to establish what happened. Italian investigators travelled to Goma alongside a parallel prosecutorial investigation opened in Rome. Congolese authorities accused the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda of carrying out the attack; the group denied responsibility and condemned the killing.
On 5 March 2021, Mwilanya Asani William, the attorney investigating the deaths of the three men, was killed by unknown gunmen in an ambush.
On 19 January 2022, police in the DRC announced the arrest of six members of a highway robbers' gang suspected of killing Attanasio. On 7 April 2023, the six men were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Lawyers representing the accused alleged that confessions had been obtained through torture, and none of the survivors of the attack testified before the tribunal. The defense indicated plans to appeal the sentences.
Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci, and UN driver Mustapha Milambo are killed when an armed group attacks a WFP convoy in North Kivu, DRC.
Mwilanya Asani William, the attorney investigating the killings, is murdered by unknown gunmen in an ambush.
DRC police announce the arrest of six men from a highway robbers' gang suspected in the killing.
The six men are convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison; defense lawyers allege confessions were obtained through torture.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killed in the attack[3]
Congolese United Nations driver killed at the scene of the attack[3]
Attorney investigating the deaths who was murdered by unknown gunmen on 5 March 2021[3]
30-year-old carabiniere serving as Attanasio's bodyguard, killed in the attack[3]
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