Guardians of Congo's gorillas unbowed as ambushed colleague is buried

Virunga National Park Rangers watch as civilians bury the body of Congolese ranger Burhani Abdou Surumwe who was killed in an ambush in Virunga National Park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas, in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Djaffar Al Katany

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - A line of Congolese park rangers raised their guns in salute on Monday as the coffin bearing their colleague Burhani Abdou Surumwe, a 30-year-old father of four, was buried in the black volcanic soil of a Muslim cemetery outside Goma.

Abdou was one of six rangers killed on Sunday in an ambush in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas that is also home to dozens of armed groups.