Ethiopia, Feb. 23 -- Addis Ababa February 23, 2021(Walta)-The DR Congo government has said that the Italian Ambassador to Kinshasa, Luca Attanasio, was killed by Rwandan Hutu rebels.

The Italian envoy was killed on Monday in an ambush near Goma, in the province of North Kivu.

A statement from the Congolese Ministry of Interior and Security said it suspected "elements" of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an exiled Hutu militia, ambushed a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in Goma, killing the diplomat and two other people.

The WFP had said the envoy, the UN agency driver, and another Italian embassy official was killed in the attack.

"The delegation was traveling from Goma to visit a WFP school feeding program...