After Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control of the biggest city in eastern Congo this week, the man who emerged from the shadows to assert his leadership was not the group's long-time military leader.

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

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo are seeking to advance south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, in an attempt to expand their area of control in the country's east after capturing the city of Goma.

The Rwandan-backed armed group M23 moved south as it closed in on a key military airport in DR Congo on Friday, a day after pledging to take the capital Kinshasa and as international criticism mounted.

The United Nations says Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma including its airport

When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern.

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.

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

Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo - 01, 2025 The leader of the March Movement (M23), Bertrand Bisimwa, and the leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC-M23), Corneille Nangaa, participated on Saturday in an exercise to clean up the city of Goma after the fighting that led the M23 to take the city on Monday.