Attack in Congo, Virunga Park from gorilla paradise to gunpowder- Corriere.it

The ambush that I am in Italian Ambassador Luca Atanasio, Carabinieri Vittorio Iacovaci, and the driver are killed It takes place near the Congolese city of Goma, in the Virunga National Park. A paradise for biodiversity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with more than half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas, this park has become a powder keg in the heart of a historically unstable area on the border with Rwanda.

This area is considered between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda One of the most dangerous regions in the world Because there is Several armed groups Who are trying with guerrillas to control the region and ensure the exploitation of abundant mineral resources. Often these are militias that refer to the most diverse political ideologies that move to the mountains on the border to escape capture.
The local press explained that the area is particularly dangerous due to the presence of rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (Fdlr) who have ambushed RN4 starting in the park.

It is usually targeted The guards who keep an eye on the oldest park And larger than Africa: Founded by the Belgian colonial authorities in 1925, and it occupies an area 7,800 sq km (More than twice as high as Valle d’Aosta).
In 2018, after a series of attacks on forest rangers and employees, the park was closed to tourists for eight months. According to a report from park authorities, at least 200 rangers have been killed indoors over the past 25 years, with the last six of them on January 10. The most violent event was last April, when 12 guards and 4 civilians were shot dead.
This region was already the scene of the Great African War, which was fought between 1998 and 2003: Six African countries vied for control of the eastern part of the Congo, which is rich in deposits of diamond, gold and coltan, a mixture of minerals. Useful in making cell phones and computers.

Since then the Virunga region has been hunting down many threatening armed groups The future of the oldest protected area in all of Africa: sentinels and anyone who approaches and threatens their interests.