KINSHASA (AP) - Many 
Congolese who once looked to the UN peacekeeping force with hope are now angry. Multiple protests, some of them violent, have targeted the force in recent years.
Last year, at Congo’s request, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to draw down the peacekeeping force and gradually hand over its security responsibilities to Congo’s government by this December.
Local protesters have recently escalated their calls for United Nations forces to leave the region, saying the soldiers have failed to protect civilians against an alarming surge of violence carried out by an array of militant groups. 
Congo desperately wants stability in its mineral-rich east, of intense interest to the global economy. But political friction means the government wants the longtime United Nations peacekeeping force there to get out.
In August 2021, United Nations peacekeepers opened fire at a border crossing in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing two people and injuring 15 others in a spasm of violence that punctuated weeks of tensions over the agency’s role in Africa’s second-largest nation.
The UN force established new bases between the frontlines and about 600,000 displaced people sheltering around Goma. It is training Congolese soldiers in the hope that they can fill the security void once it leaves.
Congo’s communication minister, Patrick Muyaya, said there would be a new timeline for MONUSCO’s departure, but didn’t give details. He said a joint team of government and UN officials was evaluating the situation.
Global interest in eastern Congo’s minerals is one reason the violence is so difficult to contain, experts said.
Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. It also has substantial gold, diamond, copper and cobalt reserves.