DRC President Tshisekedi orders UN peacekeepers out in December

Despite anti-UN protests over its failure to control rebel groups more than 20 years after its deployment, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has requested an accelerated pullout of a UN peacekeeping operation.

Armed militias nearly rule parts of the DRC, committing violent attacks on civilians to grab land and natural resources.

Many Congolese have demanded that the UN forces withdraw, and protests have sometimes killed dozens of civilians.

MONUSCO replaced MONUC, a 1999 UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, in 2010.

The Congolese leader said his government and UN officials were negotiating MONUSCO's pullout by the end of the year.

The DRC government had set a December 2024 pullout deadline.

The conflict between local authorities and anti-UN protesters last month killed 43 and injured 53.

Similar DRC protests this year have killed civilians.

MONUSCO has nearly 17,000 people in the DRC, including 14,000 military personnel, according to its February website update.

Faced with dozens of armed factions, the DRC will hold general elections in late December.