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.

People flee the intensifying fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo region of North Kivu, as the M23, a Rwanda-backed anti-government armed group, almost completely encircles the capital of North Kivu.

Residents in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, woke up on Monday morning uncertain about who is in control of the city, which Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured.

Authorities say the governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained in fighting on the front line as M23 rebels close in on Goma.

Since the M23 rebels and Rwandan soldiers launched a large-scale offensive in the key eastern DRC city of Goma on 23 January, the Congolese army (FARDC) and its partners have struggled to halt their advance.

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.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

“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:

Merely absorbing armed groups into a reserve force does little to address the underlying causes of the eastern DRC crisis.

Authorities in eastern Congo say M23 rebels have seized the town of Minova, a key supply route for the provincial capital, Goma.

Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,

Forty-nine years before Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem, Roman general Julius Caesar and his army crossed the river Rubicon—the waterway separating Gaul (modern-day France) and Italy. They marched on Rome,