Rioters stormed embassies and started fires in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, drawing tear gas from police, in an eruption of protests over a Rwandan-backed rebel offensive in the east.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has arrived in Congo's capital Kinshasa, an official at the presidency said on Thursday, as Rwanda-backed rebels consolidated control of Goma in the east of the African country.

United Nations officials say there were dead bodies on the streets of eastern Congo’s largest city where hospitals are overwhelmed and hundreds of thousands are fleeing gunfire and shelling.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped, the Associated Press reported.

Many blame the United States, France and other allies for allowing neighboring Rwanda to fuel a conflict in the country’s east.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Dramatic scenes unfolded in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday, February 28, as armed protesters attacked and set fire to the French and US embassies.

Protesters have attacked missions in the capital of the African country as anger grows about the advance of the M23 rebel group.

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

KINSHASA: Vandalised embassies, looted supermarkets and piles of burning tyres marked chaotic demonstrations Tuesday (Jan 28) in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa to denounce the "inaction" of the international community over the conflict raging in Goma,

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

M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma in the eastern DRC Monday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee in the latest in a series of advances - Anadolu Ajansı