Fighting last week between government forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels in the major eastern city of Goma left at least 900 people dead, the UN health agency has said.

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.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they are now in control of the key eastern Congolese city of Goma. Their fighters continue to claim more territory in one of the world's most mineral-rich territories.

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.

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.

Members of the M23 rebel group gather to supervise Congolese potential recruits for the M23 rebel group before being taken to training centres run by M23 rebels, amid clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC),

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.