Officials say gunmen killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack on the area where some of the world’s last mountain gorillas live
KINSHASA, Congo – Gunmen have killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in the part of 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 Conservation of Nature.
“We confirm that a group of gunmen has attacked our positions,” Mukisya told The Associated Press. “We have killed and injured our ranger colleagues.”
There was no immediate claim to responsibility, although previous attacks on Virunga rangers were blamed on several armed groups vying for control of Eastern Congo’s natural resources. One such rebel group is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by the French acronym FDLR, an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the government of neighboring Rwanda and one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo .
In April 2020, an ambush near Virunga National Park killed 12 rangers and five civilians and seriously injured several others.
Since Virunga became a national park in 1925, more than 200 park rangers have died, officials say.