Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital of Kinshasa and seek to gain political power.

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

What has been a slow-burn crisis in eastern DRC has again exploded into the open. Kagame appears to have calculated that a change of US administration is a good time to strike. A peace process mediated by Angola and sponsored by the US collapsed in the dying days of Joe Biden’s administration.

Rebels backed by Rwanda captured more towns in eastern Congo as fighters moved beyond the key city of Goma in an apparent attempt to expand their control in the conflict-battered region

Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of eastern Congo’s largest city including its airport, the United Nations said, as Rwanda’s president joined calls for a ceasefire

By Yassin Kombi and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rwandan-backed rebels strengthened their control over east Congo's largest city, Goma, on Wednesday as columns of Romanian mercenaries hired to fight for Congo entered Rwanda under tight supervision by Rwandan security forces.

Their fury is focused on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who they accuse of backing the rebels - an accusation long made by the UN. To put it bluntly, a group of UN experts maintains the Rwandan army is in "de facto control of M23 operations",