In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 36 people, including four UN staff, have been killed in protests against the United Nations in the past week. Some 170 people were also injured. This is reported by the AFP news agency, based on a statement sent by the Congolese authorities. The demonstrations are taking place in the unstable east of the country.
The protesters are targeting the UN peacekeeping mission Monusco, which started in 2010 to bring peace and stability to the eastern Congo but according to many residents has achieved little. The increased instability in the region is due to the revival of the Congolese rebel group M23. That group recently took strategic towns along the border with Uganda and Rwanda, after which tens of thousands of civilians fled. Eastern Congo is rich in copper, gold and diamonds, among other things, and armed militias and local troops have wanted to take advantage of this for decades.
Last week, Congolese protesters stormed the headquarters of UN peacekeepers in the city of Goma. There, blue helmets, UN soldiers, shot dead at least twelve Congolese. The other way around, three UN employees were killed by gunfire. It is unclear who fired those shots. People were also killed in other eastern Congolese cities.
The Congolese government announced on Tuesday that it would hold a meeting with the UN about the possible withdrawal of the peacekeeping mission. The organization has been reducing the number of UN staff in eastern Congo for years and its mandate ends in December, but Congo may want the UN to leave the area more quickly. UN spokespersons declined to comment on a possible withdrawal against international news agencies on Tuesday. In November 2021, there were some 13,500 UN soldiers for Monusco in eastern Congo.
Also read this article about the poignantly poor Eastern Congo, which is stripped of its gold