President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that his troopers are fighting an insurgence by the Rwandan-backed militant group M23 which recently captured swaths of land in the east.

Calling for sustained calm, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says health workers ready to offer humanitarian health relief - Anadolu Ajansı

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

In his first public remarks since the M23 rebels advanced into eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, on Monday, President Tshisekedi late on Wednesday vowed “a vigorous and co-ordinated response” to push back the rebels while reaffirming his commitment to a peaceful resolution.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

ISLAMABAD: Around 150 Pakistani nationals were stranded in violence-hit Goma following the recent escalation of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo , the Foreign Office confirmed

Bodies are lying on the streets. Medical staff in overwhelmed hospitals are treating hundreds of wounded civilians against the backdrop of gunfire and mortar fire.

Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels are moving south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, in what appears to be an attempt to expand their area of control in the country's east after capturing the city of Goma.

A rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had seized the lakeside city of more than 2 million people.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi is not taking part in regionally brokered talks aimed at ending the rebel assault on the key eastern city of Goma, state media has reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Netanyahu said in a statement, amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.