Officials say armed men killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in the area where some of the world’s last mountain gorillas live.
KINSHASA, Congo – Armed men killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in eastern Congo that is home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas, officials said on Sunday.
The violence occurred on Sunday in Nyamitwitwi, located in the park’s Rutshuru area, said Olivier Mukisya, a spokesman for the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation.
“We confirm that a group of armed men attacked our positions,” Mukisya told the Associated Press. “We have killed and wounded among our fellow patrolmen.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although previous attacks on Virunga park guards have been attributed to several armed groups competing for control of natural resources in eastern Congo. Among these rebel groups are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by their French acronym FDLR, a Hutu ethnic group that opposes the government of neighboring Rwanda and one of the last active Rwandan rebel factions in Congo.
In April 2020, an ambush near Virunga National Park killed 12 rangers and five civilians, and seriously injured several others.
More than 200 rangers have been killed since Virunga became a national park in 1925, officials say.