The Italian ambassador to Congo and an Italian carabinieri police officer were killed Monday during an attack on a UN convoy in an area that is home to myriad rebel groups, the Foreign Ministry and local people said.

The ambush on the World Food Program convoy that killed Ambassador Luca Attanasio and the officer occurred near Goma, Congo's eastern regional capital in the territory of Nyrangongo, in North Kivu, Congolese civilians said.

"There were five people aboard the vehicle, including the Italian ambassador," Kaway said. "The driver died after being shot with several bullets, and others were wounded," he said. "The situation is very tense,'' he added. The wounded were taken to a nearby U.N. hospital.

EU foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell informed the bloc's foreign ministers of the incident at a meeting he is chairing in Brussels and presented his condolences to Italy and the United Nations.

"The news is extremely worrying, and we are following the situation closely with the EU delegation'' in Congo, EU Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said. She provided no details about those killed or injured.

There are 5.2 million people displaced in the Central African nation, according to the United Nations Children's Agency, which said in a report Friday that this represents more displaced than in any other country except Syria. In the past year alone, 50 percent have been displaced, it said.

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