UN sets December deadline for its peacekeepers in Congo to completely withdraw

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo says it will complete its withdrawal from the Central African nation by the end of 2024. That is more than two decades after the mission arrived there to help fight against rebels. The head of the 15,000-force MONUSCO mission told a media briefing on Saturday that the withdrawal will be in three phases. The first will start in the South Kivu district and end in April. The mission 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. But the government asked it to leave the country last year after claiming its operations are limited and have not been successful.