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.

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.

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital of Kinshasa and seek to gain political power.