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.

M23 is the latest in a series of Tutsi-led rebellions that have emerged in Congo's east since the official end of a string of conflicts between 1996 and 2003 that sucked in most of Congo's neighbouring countries and killed 6 million people, mostly from hunger and disease.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.