The UN Security Council has urged Rwanda to withdraw its forces from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and extended the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUSCO, for a year, as fighting in the region escalated despite a U.S.-mediated peace deal.
The UN’s most powerful body on Friday condemned an offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23, demanded Rwanda stop supporting the rebels, and withdraw its troops. The Security Council also renewed the peacekeepers’ mandate, keeping about 11,500 military personnel in the country, in an unanimously adopted resolution.
The resolution comes as M23 claimed Wednesday to have withdrawn from Uvira, a strategic city in eastern Congo it seized last week, after pressure from the U.S. Congo’s government said the withdrawal was “staged” and that the rebels were still in the city.
U.S. deputy ambassador Jennifer Locetta told the Security Council on Friday that M23 must immediately withdraw at least 75 kilometers away from Uvira.
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UN Urges Rwanda to Leave Eastern Congo and Extends Peacekeeping Mission for a Year
12/20/2025
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