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

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.

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.

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 M23 rebels are moving “rapidly” through South Kivu province toward the city of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said.

Congo’s leader has called on young people to enlist in the army to help fight Rwanda-backed rebels attempting to seize more territory in the country’s conflict-battered east

The United Nations expressed deep concern at reports of M23 rebels and Rwandan troops advancing south towards the Congolese city of Bukavu on Thursday, as the militants sought also to assert their control over east Congo's largest city Goma.