In the eastern city of Goma of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, protesters have set fire to UN mission buildings and forced entry, calling for the peacekeeping soldiers to leave the nation amid an increase in regional insecurity.
On Monday, hundreds of protesters shut down traffic and yelled anti-UN chants before bursting into the UN peacekeeping mission's headquarters in Goma, a significant North Kivu commercial hub.
An AFP journalist saw the protestors shatter windows and steal computers, furniture, and other goods from the headquarters while UN police forces shot tear gas to try to drive them away.
Some UN representatives were rescued from the occupied offices by helicopters.
On the outskirts of the city, protesters also overran a UN logistics base, where a student was wounded in the leg.
Locals frequently criticise MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, for what they believe to be its inability to put an end to combat in the region's conflict-torn east.
The unstable area, where mass killings of civilians are frequent and conflict has driven millions of people from their homes, is home to more than 120 armed factions.
The Goma youth chapter of the ruling UDPS party issued a statement the day before the protest calling for MONUSCO to "withdraw from Congolese soil without conditions because it has already proven its inability to provide us with protection."
After the protest, Khassim Diagne, the UN secretary-deputy general's special representative to MONUSCO, said that the incidents in Goma were "not only wrong, but absolutely unhelpful," adding that the soldiers were stationed in the area to protect people.
The individuals who had infiltrated the base, he added to AFP, were "looters." He declared, "We condemn them in the greatest terms.
The demonstration was in response to Modeste Bahati, the DRC Senate's president, telling supporters in Goma on July 15 that MONUSCO should "pack its bags."
On Monday, protesters interviewed by AFP appeared to agree with the sentiment.
“They said they don’t have the strength to fight the M23, now what are they still doing here?” said Shadrac Kambale, a motorbike-taxi driver, referring to a recently resurgent militia.
The group started fighting again in November of last year after being largely dormant for years.
Since then, the rebels have made considerable gains in eastern Congo, taking control of towns like Bunagana on the Ugandan border in North Kivu.
"We don't want to see MONUSCO marching in the streets of Goma, we don't even want to see their planes flying over," Sankara Bin, another demonstrator, told AFP.
In 1999, the UN sent its first observation team to the eastern Congo. In 2010, it was given the authority to carry out offensive operations and was renamed the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO.
According to the UN, it currently has a strength of roughly 16,300 uniformed personnel, and there have been 230 fatalities among them.