N convoy in DRC's east, the Italian Foreign Ministry and local authorities have said.

Ambassador Luca Attanasio, military policeman Victoria A.

Karachi and the Congolese driver, whose name has not been released, were traveling with the UN's Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC, known as Monusco, on Monday morning when they were targeted by unknown assailants, Authorities from the Virunga National Park said.

The attack took place near the town of Kenya Amahoro, a few miles north of the regional capital Goma.

Andi was an attempted kidnapping.

Wawrinka stretches north from near Goma long diocese border with Rwanda and Uganda.

Dozens of armed groups operate in the area and park rangers have been repeatedly targeted, including six who were killed in an ambush last month.

Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio expressed his great shock on immense sorrow.

He was in Brussels for a European Union meeting when he heard the news and cut short his visit to head back to Italy.

Attanasio was head of Italy's mission in DRC since 2017 and became ambassador in 2019.