by Nurat Uthman
The United Nations Security Council voted to extend the mandate for a long-running U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo for another year on Friday, further delaying an agreed withdrawal from conflict-torn eastern provinces.

The Congolese government has previously pushed for the force – known as MONUSCO – to leave, but a note to the Security Council by Congo’s mission to the United Nations in New York shows that Kinshasa asked for the operation to be renewed.