NEW YORK — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned today’s attack against a joint field mission of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kibumba, near Goma, North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo by unidentified armed elements.

The attack resulted in the killing of three people, including the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his bodyguard and a WFP national staff member.

The Secretary-General expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, as well as to the Governments of Italy and the D.R. Congo. He further expresses his full solidarity with the WFP colleagues and the entire United Nations team in the country.

The secretary-general called on the government of the D.R. Congo to investigate swiftly this heinous targeting of a United Nations joint field mission and to bring the perpetrators to justice. He reaffirmed that the United Nations will continue to support the Congolese government and people in their efforts to bring about peace and stability in the east of the country. — WAM