Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Residents and M23 supporters shout slogans as they celebrate the takeover of the city by M23 fighters at the governor's office compound in Goma, after the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebel group launched a large-scale offensive in eastern DRC.

Congolese troops with support from Burundi's army appeared on Friday to be holding back a push south by Rwandan-backed rebels seeking to expand their grip on eastern Congo in a weeks-old advance that has raised fears of a broader regional conflict.

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.

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),

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has vowed to restore government authority in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized control of the city of Goma and are reportedly advancing south to take more territory.

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that his troopers are fighting an insurgence by the Rwandan-backed militant group M23 which recently captured swaths of land in the east.

Unconfirmed reports say the Rwanda-backed rebels are currently advancing towards Bukavu, the second-biggest city in the mineral-rich east, despite international calls for a ceasefire. In a televised address after the fall of Goma,