The U.N. says Rwanda-backed rebels are expanding their presence in eastern Congo after capturing the region's major city.

Congolese troops with support from Burundi's army appeared on Friday to be holding back a push south by Rwandan-backed rebels seeking to expand their grip on eastern Congo in a weeks-old advance that has raised fears of a broader regional conflict.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has not known peace, stability and sanity, sustainable economic and socio-political development for long periods of time. There is always a fertile and breeding ground for conflict between its ethnic groups.

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group vowed Thursday to "continue the march of liberation" to the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, as its fighters made further advances in the mineral-rich east of the country.

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.

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

The humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is "not just a regional concern but a global responsibility," a UN spokesperson said Tuesday.

In recent weeks, the armed conflict in the DRC between the M23/AFC and the Congolese army, backed by their allies, has flared up again in the province of North Kivu and spread to the neighbouring province of South Kivu.

PRETORIA, January 30. /TASS/. Rebels from the Congo River Alliance, a coalition that includes the March 23 Movement (M23), are planning to advance on Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a leader of the alliance said.

The Rwanda-backed armed group M23 vowed Thursday to "continue the march of liberation" to the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, as its fighters made further advances in the mineral-rich east of

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.