Rwanda-backed rebels are closing in on the key eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Bukavu, promising to continue their lightning offensive until they take the national capital. The bloody conflict in the eastern DRC took a dramatic turn this week when Kigali-backed fighters from the M23 claimed to take control of Goma in North Kivu province before advancing southwards in the direction of Bukavu,

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest city said on Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, while Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilisation to resist the rebellion and his defence minister rejected calls for talks.

The Rwanda-backed rebels taking over territory in DR Congo have vowed to continue their fight all the way to the capital Kinshasa, where the country’s president has called for new recruits in the battle against them.

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi insisted his troops were mounting a "vigorous" response to Rwanda-backed fighters advancing in the country's perennially troubled east and slammed the international community's "silence and inaction".

Anti-Rwandan protests broke out in Kinshasa Tuesday morning, as rebels battled Congolese forces in the key eastern city of Goma.

The Rwandan-backed armed group M23 moved south as it closed in on a key military airport in DR Congo on Friday, a day after pledging to take the capital Kinshasa and as international criticism mounted.

France's foreign minister was due in Rwanda on Thursday after talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of efforts to prevent a regional escalation following the capture of the eastern Congolese city of Goma by M23 rebels and Rwandan troops.

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital and seek to gain political power

Local sources said Kigali-backed fighters were advancing on a new front and had seized two districts in South Kivu province, after the rebel group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

The fresh offensive by the M23 rebels and Rwanda forces in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) coincides with the first anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the European Union (EU) and Rwanda to cooperate on the supply of "critical minerals.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels asserted their control over east Congo's largest city Goma on Thursday by calling on residents to resume normal life, even as the group clashed with Congolese troops as they tried to take more territory.

Demonstrators in Kinshasa