NAIROBI, Kenya – At least six rangers were ambushed and killed in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, park officials said, part of a wave of violence that is plaguing Africa’s oldest country. park and continues to endanger the home of about a third of the world’s mountain gorillas.
Authorities attributed the attack on Sunday to Mai-Mai fighters, an umbrella name for a loosely affiliated group of local militias fighting for power and resources in eastern Congo.
The park has for years been the site of repeated attacks by rebels and militia groups, along with hunters and loggers, leading to the deaths of hundreds of rangers.
The latest attack came just a year after the attackers killed 17 people, including 12 rangers, in the park. Emmanuel de Merode, director of the park, was shot and injured in 2014, and tourists were kidnapped during visits to the national park.
Established in 1925 as the first national park in Africa, Virunga National Park is located in an area of 3,000 square miles with stunning landscapes, dense forests and incomparable biodiversity.
Known as home to endangered mountain gorillas, the park is also home to hundreds of species of birds, reptiles and mammals. In 1979, the park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The attack on rangers, aged between 25 and 30, occurred while they were patrolling on foot at around 7:30 am, the park said in a note, near the town of Kabuendo, along the central part of the Virunga reserve. The guards were taken “by surprise”, leaving them “with no opportunity to defend themselves”.
The guards worked for the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, the government agency in charge of safeguarding protected areas in Congo.
On Sunday, park officials lamented the “tragic loss of life” among guards, saying they “work tirelessly and with dedication to protect the park and surrounding communities from the tyranny of armed groups”.
“Your sacrifice will not be forgotten or in vain,” said the statement.
In addition, a ranger was seriously injured in the attack and was transferred to a hospital in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu region in eastern Congo, according to the statement. “His injuries are no longer considered fatal,” said park officials.