UN urges Rwanda to leave eastern Congo, extends MONUSCO for one year

The U.N. Security Council on Friday urged Rwanda to withdraw its forces from eastern Congo and extended the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, for one year, as fighting in the region intensified despite a U.S.-brokered peace agreement. The 15-member body adopted the resolution unanimously, condemning the offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23 and demanding that Rwanda stop supporting the rebels and withdraw its troops. It also renewed MONUSCO's mandate, keeping about 11,500 military personnel in the country.

The M23 said on Wednesday that it had withdrawn from Uvira, a strategic city it seized last week, after pressure from the United States. Congo’s government said the withdrawal was staged and that fighters remained in the city. U.S. deputy ambassador Jennifer Locetta told the Security Council that M23 must immediately withdraw at least 75 kilometers (47 miles) away from Uvira and avoid any attempt to reestablish control in the vicinity. The rebels, formed in 2012 and revived in 2021, have gained strength amid the region's instability.

A U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed earlier this month in Washington between Congo and Rwanda did not include the M23, which has negotiated separately with Congo and had earlier agreed to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. The accord obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups like M23 and work to end hostilities, a commitment the U.N. and Western powers say must be verified on the ground.

The M23 has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to roughly 6,500 fighters, according to the United Nations, complicating the security picture in a region where more than 100 armed groups vie for influence around mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The fighting has contributed to what the U.N. describes as one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire or unable to access aid supplies.

MONUSCO, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, arrived in Congo in 2010, taking over from an earlier mission to protect civilians and assist the Congolese government in stabilization and peace consolidation efforts. While the mission has played a stabilizing role at times, Congolese authorities and civilians have sometimes protested that the force does not adequately shield them from rebel attacks, and calls for a faster transition have persisted. In 2023, at Congo’s request, the Security Council voted unanimously to draw down MONUSCO and hand over security responsibilities to the government, a transition that has complicated the protection landscape amid renewed confrontations in the east.