DRC: At Least 16 Rangers, Civilians Killed In Armed Attack On Virunga National Park

At least 16 people, including 12 rangers, were killed in an attack by an unidentified armed group on Friday in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Virunga National Park, which is located in North Kivu Province, reported The Guardian. Four others were injured.

DRC’s Virunga is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Africa’s oldest and most biologically diverse protected areas. It is also one of the last places where critically endangered mountain gorillas can be found in the wild, but the park has been hit by rising instability and violence.

The park management confirmed the attack in a statement saying that the guards were killed while they came forward to help a civilian vehicle attacked by the assailants.

“It is with great sadness that Virunga National Park confirms an attack which unfortunately has resulted in the loss of many lives,” the statement read. “Victims include bystanders unrelated to the park, as well as park staff and park rangers.”

The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) confirmed that the attack was targeted at civilians and not the rangers.

“All the information available at this stage indicates that it was an attack against civilians,” said ICCN.

The body said the guards got killed while they tried to assist the civilian vehicle which had been targeted the attackers.

While no group has claimed responsibility, the local people believe that Rwandan Hutu militia FDLR is responsible for the attack. The park is spread more than 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 square miles) over the borders of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.

The Virunga Park in DRC has witnessed repeated attacks by rebel groups, militias, and poachers, resulting in the deaths of over 170 park rangers in the past 20 years. Visitors were barred from visiting the park from May 2018 to early last year after two British tourists were kidnapped there.