KINSHASA – In a significant move, the U.N. Security Council has called on Rwanda to pull its forces out of eastern Congo, while also extending the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, for another year. This decision comes as tensions in the region continue to rise, despite a peace deal mediated by the United States.

On Friday, the Security Council, wielding its considerable influence, denounced the offensive led by the M23 rebels, who are reportedly backed by Rwanda. The council pressed Rwanda to cease its support for these rebels and withdraw its military presence. In a resolution adopted unanimously, it also renewed the peacekeepers’ mandate, ensuring that approximately 11,500 troops remain in the area.

This resolution follows events earlier in the week when M23 claimed to have retreated from Uvira, a significant city in eastern Congo that they had captured the previous week. However, the Congolese government dismissed this withdrawal as a “staged” maneuver, asserting that the rebels remained in control of the city.

Addressing the Security Council, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jennifer Locetta emphasized the necessity for M23 to retreat at least 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Uvira immediately.

The capture of Uvira by M23 last week occurred despite a peace agreement facilitated by the U.S. and signed by the presidents of Congo and Rwanda in Washington earlier this month.

Although the peace accord did not include the M23 rebels directly, who are in separate negotiations with Congo, it did require Rwanda to cease its support for armed groups like M23 and to actively engage in efforts to end the conflict. Both sides continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreed upon earlier this year.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.

The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010, after taking over from an earlier U.N. peacekeeping mission to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and to support the Congolese government in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.

However, frustrated Congolese have said that no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to protests against the U.N. mission and others that have at times turned deadly.

In 2023, at Congo’s request, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to draw down the peacekeeping force and gradually hand over its security responsibilities to Congo’s government.

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Lederer reported from the United Nations. Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.