The United Nations Security Council has called on Rwanda to pull its forces out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and has renewed the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, for another year as violence continues to intensify despite a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
Meeting on Friday, the Council strongly condemned recent advances by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, urged Kigali to end all support for the fighters, and demanded the withdrawal of any Rwandan troops from Congolese territory.
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the Council also approved the extension of MONUSCO’s mission, maintaining roughly 11,500 peacekeepers in the country.
The decision comes after M23 claimed on Wednesday that it had pulled out of Uvira, a key city in eastern Congo captured last week. Congolese authorities, however, dismissed the move as a “staged withdrawal,” insisting the rebels were still present in the area.
Addressing the Council, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jennifer Locetta said M23 must immediately move at least 75 kilometers (47 miles) away from Uvira.
The rebel group seized the city during a deadly offensive, even though a U.S.-mediated peace agreement had been signed earlier this month in Washington by the presidents of Congo and Rwanda.
While M23 was not a signatory to the deal and is holding separate talks with Kinshasa, the agreement requires Rwanda to stop backing armed groups and work toward ending hostilities.
