United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday spoke separately with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda about the escalating conflict in eastern Congo, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Local sources said Kigali-backed fighters were advancing on a new front and had seized two districts in South Kivu province, after the rebel group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

The United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and senior U.N. officials are calling for the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from occupied territories. They have called for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces and a return to the Luanda process of mediation overseen by Angolan President Joao Lourenco.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels triggered the ongoing hostilities by launching an offensive north of Goma, on Oct. 26, 2023, in violation of the Luanda process.

It was around 1:25 am, in the wee hours of Monday, January 27, when the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator to Rwanda, Ozonnia Ojielo, received an official letter from his counterpart in DR Congo,

The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider measures to halt an offensive by Rwandan troops and M23 rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as a conflict there escalates.

Congolese forces were losing control of the city of Goma on Wednesday after rebel groups backed by Rwanda took over the airport and shared plans to set up a new administration.

Troops from Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have been firing at each other across their shared border in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, where Rwandan-backed rebels launched an offensive,

A day after the rebels marched into the lakeside city, protesters in the capital attacked a UN compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States, expressing anger at what

Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma.

In June last year, Rwanda's government spokesperson Yolande Makolo hit out about the presence of mercenaries in eastern DR Congo, saying it was a violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the use of hired combatants. In response, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya dismissed what he called Rwanda's perennial complaint.