In recent weeks, the armed conflict 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.

The M23 rebels, turning their sights on Bukavu, were reportedly more than halfway to their target by Wednesday evening

Artillery explosions can be heard regularly from Goma. Fighting is taking place on all the roads around Goma and has led to a new influx of displaced people into the city, including from some camps on the outskirts of the city where people flee towards Goma, in a situation of panic."

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.

GOMA: Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo were moving south on Wednesday towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, apparently bidding to expand their area of control in the country’s east after capturing the city of Goma.

The security situation in the city of Goma is deteriorating, and journalists can no longer report, the media has been forced into silence, there is no stable access to electricity or the internet. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urgently alerting the international community to this crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and calling on the parties involved in conflict to respect and protect the public’s right to information.

By Yassin Kombi and David Lewis GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo were moving south on Wednesday towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province,

In recent weeks, the armed conflict 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.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels behind escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

“The Secretary-General has called for all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law. This must be upheld to prevent further suffering,” a UNHCR representative said. Image Credit:

The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo is prey to various and varied conflicts, particularly the M23 war with identity crisis implications in North Kivu; the catastrophic campaign to uproot the Tutsi Banyamulenge in South Kivu;