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The United Nations Security Council has urged rwanda withdrew its forces from eastern Congo and extended the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, by a year as fighting escalated in the region despite a US-brokered peace deal.
The UN’s most powerful body on Friday condemned the attack by the Rwandan-backed M23 and demanded that Rwanda stop supporting the rebels and withdraw its troops. The Security Council also renewed the mandate of the peacekeepers, keeping about 11,500 military personnel in the country in a resolution adopted unanimously.
The proposal comes as the M23 claimed on Wednesday to have retreated from Uvira, a strategic town in eastern Congo that it seized last week following pressure from the US Congolese government said the withdrawal was “phased” and rebels were still in the town.
US Deputy Ambassador Jennifer Loketa told the Security Council on Friday that the M23 should immediately move at least 75 kilometers (47 miles) away from Uvira.
M23 took control of the city in a deadly attack last week, despite a US-brokered peace deal signed by the presidents of Congo and Rwanda earlier this month. Washington,
The agreement did not include the rebel group, which is in separate talks with Congo and agreed to a ceasefire earlier this year that both sides accuse each other of violating. However, the agreement obliges Rwanda to stop support for armed groups like M23 and work to end hostilities.
Congo, the US and UN experts have accused Rwanda of supporting the M23, which has grown from hundreds of members to about 6,500 fighters in 2021, according to the UN.
More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently the M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the UN agency for refugees.
The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010, taking over from the earlier United Nations peacekeeping mission to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and support the Congolese government in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.
However, frustrated Congolese have said no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to protests against the UN mission and others that have at times turned deadly.
In 2023, at Congo’s request, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to remove the peacekeeping force and gradually hand over its security responsibilities to the Congolese government.
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Lederer reported from the United Nations. Banchereau reported Burp, senegal,