[Berserk]

Photo's of Italy's ambassador to the Congo, L. A., who died in an attack on a UN convoy.

Rome, Italy(CNN)The 42yo ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed in Goma, the Italian Foreign Ministry has told.

L*** A****** died alongside an Italian soldier after their car was attacked as they traveled in a UN convoy in the eastern part of the country.

"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 L*** A******** and of a soldier from the Carabinieri," the ministry said in a statement.

Italy's Prime Minister has put out a statement expressing his condolences to the families of the Italian ambassador and the soldier, named as ****** †*****.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement that one of its drivers was killed in the attack.

Others in the convoy also sustained injuries, according to the UN agency.

The WFP said a delegation was on a field trip to visit one of their school feeding programs in Rutshuru when they came under attack.

It added that the route was on a road previously designated safe for travel without a security team.

Rutshuru is just over two hours' drive from Goma. The road out of the regional capital has been insecure for years with a variety of armed groups operating in the area.

There is a heavy UN peacekeeping presence in the region, and UN convoys need security clearance to travel outside of Goma.

[megmaaaaa]

A route once searched, is only deemed safe if it is under continuous surveillance.

[NOUSERNAME]

No more linguine with clam sauce for them.

[kellyhound]

U.N is pretty useless because of their mandates and policies. More than 70 rebel groups are active in that part of congo so this happened and will happen on a regular base.

[jesuswept]

That photo of the two men holding the hands of the dying man is so very poignant and sad.
I'm glad they were with him and he didn't die alone on the road or sitting in a vehicle.

[Berserk]

Originally Posted by jesuswept ↗

That photo of the two men holding the hands of the dying man is so very poignant and sad.
I'm glad they were with him and he didn't die alone on the road or sitting in a vehicle.

I find this photo very strong in this sense

[Lindemann]

I've always heard that the eastern regions of DR Congo are the most isolated/anarchic/guerrilla war infested shitholes on Earth. And he being the ambassador should know about it. Let the Congo government fix their own problems and develop their country if they are really interested on it. Don't go to dangerous areas with your stupid UN white cars to take the picture (and the shots).

[BigSnail34]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

U.N is pretty useless because of their mandates and policies. More than 70 rebel groups are active in that part of congo so this happened and will happen on a regular base.

I'm not generally one to offer stark pronouncements, but:

There is no hope for the Congo Basin until such time as the current social hegemons are extirpated or subsumed. I spent 18 months of my life there over the course of three deploynents - in CAR, Brazzaville, and environs.

The social systems presently extant are rotten to the core. A sense of civic duty is missing entirely. If you sat a crying baby on a street corner in Kinshasa, it would be ignored until someone kicked it into the gutter.

When I was in CAR, the life expectancy was right at 50 and in any given year a Centrafrique had a 14% chance dying. That would be the equivalent of 45 million Americans dying in a single year - every year.

Why does this state of affairs exist?

It doesn't matter. The question is as useless as the answer. We have spent 60 years there trying to identify and correct "root causes" The root cause is the entire social fabric.

We ought to abandon them, and leave them to their fate. We are doing rhem no favors.

[SimoneFlen']

[SDI]

The Eastern part of the Congo always has been like this. Once the Secretary-General of the United Nations was killed there as well.