{"id":11579,"date":"2024-02-29T12:11:17","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=11579"},"modified":"2024-02-29T12:11:26","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:11:26","slug":"un-peacekeepers-begin-withdrawing-from-east-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/un-peacekeepers-begin-withdrawing-from-east-dr-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"UN peacekeepers begin withdrawing from east DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KAMANYOLA, DR Congo<\/strong>:\u00a0 The\u00a0United Nations<\/a>has \u00a0kicked off the withdrawal of MONUSCO peacekeeping forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo by handing over a first UN base to national police, an AFP team saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an official ceremony at the Kamanyola base, close to the Rwandan and Burundian borders, the flags of the United Nations and Pakistan, the countries of origin of the peacekeepers in charge, were replaced by those of the DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DR Congo demanded the withdrawal despite UN concerns about rampant violence in the east of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinshasa considers the UN force to be ineffective in protecting civilians from the armed groups and militias that have plagued the east of the vast country for three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Security Council voted in December to accede to Kinshasa\u2019s demand for a gradual pullout by the MONUSCO mission, which arrived in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN force currently fields around 13,500 soldiers and 2,000 police across the three eastern provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cdisengagement plan\u201d is due to take place in three phases with completion depending on regular assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first base to be handed over is at Kamanyola, on the border with Burundi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase one is to see the departure of military peacekeepers from South Kivu by the end of April and civilian staff by June 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before May, the UN force is to leave its 14 bases in the province and hand them over to DRC security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kamanyola, with a population of about 100,000, opinions appeared divided on the eve of the first step in the pullout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ombeni Ntaboba, head of a local youth council, said he was not too concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every evening, he said, \u201cwe see them out in their armored vehicles around the Ruzizi plain,\u201d where armed groups operate along the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the level of insecurity is still the same, with armed robberies and kidnappings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe salute the Congolese government\u2019s decision,\u201d said Mibonda Shingire, a rights activist, who admitted fearing the impact on the local economy because of the many people employed by MONUSCO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, like Joe Wendo, said they were worried about a \u201csecurity vacuum\u201d once the Pakistani troops deployed to Kamanyola have gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir presence at least protected us from the Rwandan invaders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The withdrawal comes with North Kivu facing the resurgent Tutsi-led M23 rebels who have seized swathes of territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intense fighting resumed last month around the city of Goma, North Kivu\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But local people shout down the UN troops more than they praise them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And MONUSCO has recently felt the need to point out that it \u201csupports Congo\u2019s armed forces\u2026 defends its positions\u2026 facilitates secure passage for civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe departure of the MONUSCO blue helmets concerns us, at a time when the country is at war with the rebels backed by our Rwandan neighbors,\u201d said Beatrice Tubatunziye, who leads a development association in Kamanyola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she wanted to believe that Congolese forces \u201cwill quickly be able to fill the void.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinshasa, the United Nations and Western countries say Rwanda supports M23 in a bid to control vast mineral resources in the region, an allegation Kigali denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations has insisted the DRC security forces must be reinforced and take care of civilians at the same time as MONUSCO pulls out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around six million people have been displaced by the fighting in DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After South Kivu, the second and third pullout phases will cover Ituri and North Kivu, with regular assessments of progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DRC Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula has made it clear he wants the withdrawal completed by the end of this year, though the UN Security Council has not fixed a date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor:msserwanga@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMANYOLA, DR Congo:\u00a0 The\u00a0United Nationshas \u00a0kicked off the withdrawal of MONUSCO peacekeeping forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eac-regional-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/monusco-data-1200x799-1.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13703,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/protesters-attack-ugandas-and-other-embassies-in-dr-congo-over-m23-rebel-advance\/","url_meta":{"origin":11579,"position":0},"title":"Protesters attack Uganda’s and other embassies in DR Congo over M23 rebel advance","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"January 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Our Correspondents Dozens of protesters in Kinshasa attacked foreign embassies, demanding action against M23 rebels in the country's east. 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