Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday 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.

Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels are moving south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, in what appears to be an attempt to expand their area of control in the country's east after capturing the city of Goma.

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.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for a urgent cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo saying Washington was "deeply troubled" by a recent escalation in the fighting.

Our peacekeepers are also planning on sending out patrols today in Goma to assess the situation, to conduct resupplies and assess routes in the capital,' says spokesman - Anadolu Ajansı