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Six rangers killed in attack at Congo park

AAP
A file photo of rangers patrolling in Virunga National Park in eastern Congo.
Camera IconA file photo of rangers patrolling in Virunga National Park in eastern Congo.

Gunmen have killed six rangers in an ambush in Virunga National Park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the park said.

The identity of the assailants was not immediately clear, Virunga spokesman Olivier Mukisya said.

Previous attacks against the rangers have been blamed on various militias who fight to control land and natural resources in eastern Congo.

"We confirm this sad news. A group of armed men attacked our positions in the region of Nyamitwitwi in the middle of Virunga National Park," Mukisya said.

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More than 200 rangers have been killed in the past, including 12 last April in the deadliest such attack in recent memory.

Dozens of armed groups operate in eastern Congo, many remnants of militias that fought in civil wars around the turn of the century that resulted in millions of deaths from conflict, hunger and disease.

Virunga sits on the forest-covered volcanoes of central Africa and is home to over half the global population of mountain gorillas.

It is Africa's oldest national park and largest tropical rainforest reserve, covering 7800 square kilometres.

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