Officials say gunmen have killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack on the area that hosts some of the world’s last mountain gorillas.
KINSHASA, Congo – The gunman killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in eastern Congo, home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas, officials said Sunday.
The violence took place on Sunday in Nyamitwitwi, located in the Rutshuru area of the park, said Olivier Mukisya, 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 dead and wounded among our fellow guards.”
There were no immediate claims of responsibility, although past attacks on Virunga Park guards have been blamed on several armed groups fighting for control of natural resources in eastern Congo. These rebel groups include the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by the French acronym FDLR, a Hutu ethnic group opposed to the neighboring Rwandan government and one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in Congo.
In April 2020, an ambush near Virunga National Park killed 12 rangers and five civilians and critically injured others.
More than 200 rangers have been killed since Virunga became a national park in 1925, officials say.