UN: All peacekeepers will leave DR Congo by the end of 2024
The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has helped in the war against the rebels for more than two decades now, will fully leave the country by December this year.
Bintou Keita, Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, said yesterday in a press conference in Kinshasa, the capital of the country, that Monusco will definitely leave the Congo before the end of this year in 2024 after serving the country for 25 years. The announcement was made after the Congolese government asked the United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, saying it had failed to protect civilians from armed militia groups. Many armed groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and M23, have armed themselves in eastern Congo, especially in the areas of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, where civilians are facing a lack of peace and have been forced to leave their homes. In the first phase, at least 2,000 United Nations soldiers will leave South Kivu until the end of April this year, so the number of MONUSCO soldiers who will remain in Congo will be 11,500. The MONUSCO force will leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo in three phases; where 14 military camps located in South Kivu will be taken over by the Congolese security forces, said Bintou Keita.
