President Félix Tshisekedi has sent a strong message to Rwandan President Paul Kagame after skipping President William Ruto’s East African Community (EAC) virtual crisis meeting. Tshisekedi addressed Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame,

The weeks-long march of the M23 armed group has prompted calls for crisis talks, as well as rising international criticism and warnings of a looming humanitarian crisis.

The Rwanda Defense Force reported escorting hundreds of "Romanian mercenaries" out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after seizing Goma.

KINSHASA/PARIS - France's foreign minister was due in Rwanda on Thursday after talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of efforts to prevent a regional escalation following the capture of the eastern Congolese city of Goma by M23 rebels and Rwandan troops.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

The weeks-long march of the M23 armed group, which has captured vast swathes of eastern DRC including most of the key city of Goma, has prompted calls for crisis talks and warnings of a looming humanitarian crisis.

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, hours after Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion.

Rwandan-backed rebels declare they are now in control of the key eastern Congolese city of Goma, as their troops continue to claim more territory in the mineral rich region.

The rebel leader whose fighters have captured Goma, the biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has vowed to continue their offensive all the way to the capital, Kinshasa. Corneille Nangaa, who heads an alliance of rebel groups that includes the M23, said their ultimate aim was to topple President Félix Tshisekedi's government.