• Congo army fights back, rebels hold Goma

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    M23 rebel fighters rush from Goma to the town of Sake to reinforce positions as residents of Sake flee with their belongings on the road between Goma and Sake in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 22, 2012. Many of the fleeing residents stopped at an internally displaced person camp between Sake and Goma.

    Reuters reports — Congolese troops fought back on Thursday against rebels who rejected calls from African leaders to quit the eastern city of Goma, captured earlier this week in a major upset that forced U.N. troops to withdraw.

    Thousands of people fled the area of clashes around the town of Sake, as M23 rebel fighters rushed from Goma to reinforce their positions against an army counter-offensive.

    Both sides claimed control of Sake as night fell on the troubled eastern area. There was no independent verification of who was holding the town.

    The M23 rebel movement, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, has vowed to "liberate" all of the vast, resource-rich country after taking Goma, a provincial capital on the Rwandan border, ramping up tensions in a fragile region. Full story…

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Women run after Congolese soldiers and rebel fighters battle over the eastern Congolese town of Sake, Nov. 22. The woman in orange, identified as Mamou, said she lost her husband by a fatal wound to the head from incoming mortar rounds. Thousands fled the M23 controlled town as the militants seeking to overthrow the government vowed to push forward despite mounting international pressure.

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    Thousands of Congolese flee the town of Sake, about 16 miles west of Goma, following fresh fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nov. 22.

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    Congolese children sit on a step in front of M23 rebels in Sake, Nov. 22, 2012. Rebels took the town yesterday, but were engaged in heavy gunfighting this afternoon as government-allied militia tried to retake it.

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    A woman who fled her home in Sake emerges from a shelter at an internally displaced person camp in Mugunga, between Goma and Sake, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 22.

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  • Rebels pledge to 'liberate' Congo after seizing city

    James Akena / Reuters

    A United Nations peacekeepers' armored vehicle drives past rebels patrolling a street in Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after they captured the city from the government army on Tuesday.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Rebel forces in eastern Congo said Wednesday they planned to take control of the entire country after capturing the city of Goma as United Nations peacekeepers looked on.

    A spokesman for the M23 rebels -- a group widely believed to be backed by Rwanda -- said they planned to "liberate" the country by marching on the capital, Kinshasa, nearly 1,000 miles away.


    The rebels had previously said they were seeking talks with Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila.

    "The journey to liberate Congo has started now ... We're going to move on to Bukavu and then to Kinshasa. Are you ready to join us?" Vianney Kazarama, spokesman for the M23 rebels, told a crowd of more than 1,000 in a stadium in Goma.

    PhotoBlog: Congo police surrender as rebels take control of Goma

    Goma fell Tuesday when hundreds of rebel fighters poured into the city and government troops melted away after sporadic gunfire.

    Rebels used local radio and television stations to appeal for calm, but there are fears of human rights abuses and tens of thousands of people had already fled days of fighting between the rebels and U.N.-backed Congolese soldiers.

    Rebel soldiers attack Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels are allegedly backed by Rwanda and threaten troops backed by United Nations peacekeepers. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Rebel army seizes control of Congo city as UN peacekeepers do nothing

    The M23 rebellion has aggravated tensions between Congo and its neighbor Rwanda, which Kinshasa's government says is orchestrating the insurgency as a means of grabbing the region's mineral wealth, which includes diamonds, gold and coltan, a metal used in mobile phones.

    While conflict has simmered almost constantly in Congo's east in recent years, this is the first time Goma has fallen to rebels since foreign occupying armies officially pulled out under peace deals at the end of the most recent 1998-2003 war, dubbed "Africa's World War" because so many countries became involved. 

    Aid agencies have estimated that 5 million people have died from fighting and conflict-related disease since the 1998 war began.

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    Twelve-year-old amputee Kakule Elie, who was hit by a stray bullet, lies in a bed in a hospital in Goma Tuesday.

    Congo rebel clashes stoke fears of broader conflict

    Diplomats at the United Nations and regional mediators in Central Africa have been seeking to prevent an escalation of hostilities in Congo, which is the size of Western Europe.

    Kabila and Rwandan Paul Kagame were due to meet later on Wednesday after holding three-way talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni late on Tuesday, sources in the Ugandan presidency said.

    Rights group blasts Rwanda winning seat on UN Security Council

    In New York, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution late on Tuesday condemning the seizure of Goma and demanding that M23’s forces should withdraw and disband.

    The council also expressed "deep concern at reports indicating that external support continues to be provided to the M23.”

    Hague war crimes court to finds Congo warlord guilty

    The French government expressed frustration with U.N. peacekeepers, who gave up the battle for the city of a million people after Congo's army retreated, saying it was "absurd" that the U.N. force did not protect the city.

    "MONUSCO [the U.N. force] is 17,000 soldiers, but sadly it was not in a position to prevent what happened," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said of the U.N.'s Congo mission. "It is necessary that the MONUSCO mandate is reviewed."

    Congo crisis exacerbated by heavy rains

    But a senior U.N. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the withdrawal of civilian and military Congolese officials had left a void it could not fill alone.

    "We're not the army of any country, let alone the Congolese army, and it's not for us to take positions by ourselves to stop a rebel attack or the movement of rebels," the official said. "Our job is to protect civilians.”

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Congo rebel clashes stoke fears of broader conflict

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    A soldier of the M23 rebel group stands atop a hill overlooking Bunagana in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 23, 2012. Several top commanders in the rebel movement were in Bunagana on Monday for a meeting, whilst a relative calm prevailed in the rebel-held territory.

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    Colonel Sultani Makenga (seated inside vehicle), the commander of the M23 rebel group, drives through the town of Bunagana on July 23, 2012.

    The U.S. State Department announced on Sunday that it was cutting military aid to Rwanda following accusations that it had given backing to rebel groups in neighboring eastern Congo, Agence France Presse reported. 

    More than 200,000 civilians have had to leave their homes and several hundred fighters have been killed in recent clashes between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese government, Reuters reports. Reports of support for rebel fighters from Rwanda have stoked fears of a slide into a broader central African conflict, although countries in the region last week agreed a plan to eradicate armed groups in eastern Congo. 

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

    Alissa Everett / Reuters

    A displaced woman, who fled fighting near Walikale, holds her child at Magunga III camp, outside the city of Goma, on July 23, 2012.

    James Akena / Reuters

    A UN peacekeeping patrol drives through Goma on July 23, 2012.

    James Akena / Reuters

    Families fleeing fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels walk toward Goma on July 23, 2012.

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