The M23 rebel group that is backed by Rwanda has emerged as a more potent force after being crushed during their first rebellion in 2012.

Rwandan-backed rebels who have swept through eastern Congo this week met resistance from the army and its allies including Burundian troops as they tried to push south on Friday, a Congolese official and another source said.

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.

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.

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,

SADC leaders pledged commitment at crisis talks in Zimbabwe as M23 rebels advance on Bukavu, just days after seizing Goma. The UN says at least 700 people have been killed since Sunday.