Congo president asks UN peacekeepers to start packing up this year

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has asked his government to fast track the withdrawal of a United Nations peacekeeping mission to ensure it begins at the end of the year, he said at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

The mission, called MONUSCO, took over from an earlier U.N. operation in 2010 to help quell insecurity in the eastern part of the Central African country, where armed groups fight over territory and resources.