(Deutsche Welle) The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The French-drafted resolution extends the MONUC mission for a period of one year, and authorises it to act independently against rebel armed groups threatening civilians or humanitarian and UN personnel. Recent fighting between government troops and rebel forces led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda has displaced more than a quarter of a million people in North Kivu province in the east of the DRC. Around 6,000 MONUC's 22,000 troops are deployed in North Kivu. The UN mission has been widely criticised for its inability to stop the latest fighting, which broke out last August.