The Congolese army called on deserters to rejoin their units on Thursday, as rogue soldiers fired guns and looted parts of the eastern town of Lubero after fleeing nearby clashes with advancing Rwandan-backed rebels.

In North Kivu, partners report that more than 110,000 people have left displacement sites in Goma and started to move to villages in the Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories.

R ulers of the Democratic Republic of Congo have rarely, if ever, fully controlled the east of Africa’s second-largest country. Kinshasa, its capital, is 1,500km from the provinces (South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri) that border the other Great Lakes countries (Burundi,

As armed attacks intensify in North Kivu, villagers plead for prayers after discovering dozens of victims inside a Protestant church — another grim chapter in the region’s deepening crisis.

UNICEF denounced the alarming rise in violence against children in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Friday, expressing concern that thousands of minors have suffered sexual

The defection ceremony took place in front of the provincial police headquarters, drawing the attention of the local population.

The Congolese army called on deserters to rejoin their units on Thursday, as rogue soldiers fired guns and looted parts of the eastern town of Lubero after fleeing nearby clashes with advancing Rwandan-backed rebels.

Rebels from the M23, backed by the Rwandan army, continue to advance in South Kivu drawing closer to the Burundian border, where troops sent by President Évariste Ndayishimiye have gradually retreated.

The crucial ferries were suspended for several days due to fierce fighting between the army and M23 rebels in the region.

Movement, backed by Rwanda, now controls Goma and Bukavu—and the entire Kivu Lake region—by force. The rebel group is now learning the complex art of running two of DR Congo’s largest cities.

Movement (M23) rebels have issued a temporary suspension of services for state employees and officials in the captured city of Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a statement released on Saturday,

After the M23 Rwanda-backed rebels Feb. 16 occupied Bukavu, a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Catholic bishops and experts are warning this offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu signals a clear intent to establish a permanent foreign country presence in the region.