Luca Attanasio, Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic Congo, has died in an attack on a UN convoy in the restive Central African country, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday.

An Italian carabiniere gendarmerie officer also died in the ambush, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the two men were travelling as part of a convoy for MONUSCO, the UN mission for stabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The statement gave no additional details on the circumstances of their deaths.

Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s foreign minister, said he learned the tragic news while in Brussels for a Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

He expressed "immense sorrow" over the envoy’s death and said he would also express this to his EU colleagues.

AA