United Nations agencies called for an end to the violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as fighting between

Now head of the Congo River Alliance (CRA) and allied with the Rwanda-backed M23, Mr Nangaa has seized key cities, including Goma, and vows to march on Kinshasa. Sentenced to death in absentia, he remains at the centre of the DRC’s escalating conflict. How did he rise to power?

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.

The eastern DRC city of Goma was seized by M23 rebels and their Rwandan allies on 26 January. Residents have emerged to count the dead and make sense of the fast-moving offensive.

Rebels led by the M23 group claim to have taken control of Goma, a key city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

M23 vows to defend Tutsi interests, particularly against ethnic Hutu militias such as the FDLR, which was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide of more than 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Congolese troops have fought back against Rwanda-backed rebels who the U.N. says are moving fast into the South Kivu province after seizing the region’s largest city and an international airport

Authorities confirmed 773 bodies and 2,880 injured persons in Goma's morgues and hospitals, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told a briefing in the capital, Kinshasa, adding that the death toll could be higher.