Overview

• Congo's foreign minister and the head of the United Nations stabilization mission in Congo signed agreements to end the presence of U.N. peacekeepers after more than two decades.
• Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has called for an accelerated withdrawal of the 15,000 peacekeepers, but no firm timeline has been announced.
• Tshisekedi is seeking another term in the Dec. 20 presidential election, with the conflict in the country's east taking center stage.
• Eastern Congo has long been overrun by dozens of armed groups seeking a share of the region’s resources, with some being quietly backed by Congo’s neighbors.
• Last month, the Congolese government directed the East African regional force, deployed last year to help end the fighting, to leave the country by December due to a 'lack of satisfactory results on the ground.'