Rwanda, which diplomats say backs M23 fighters who seized Goma in Democratic Republic of Congo this week, called on Wednesday for a ceasefire across eastern Congo and for Congo to negotiate with the rebels while denying Rwandan troops were involved.

The conflict comes amid rising global tensions after Donald Trump’s election, especially between Washington and Beijing, over control of strategic minerals like those present in the Congo.

A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

After a lightning offensive, M23 rebels now control Goma, a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has insisted that his troops are mounting a "vigorous" response to Rwanda-backed fighters advancing in the country’s perennially troubled east,

Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed 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, the Associated Press reported.

Rebels claim to have captured the key city of Goma in the DRC, as the decades-long conflict becomes even more volatile. Sky News takes a look at what's going on.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for a urgent cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo saying Washington was "deeply troubled" by a recent escalation in the fighting.

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.

Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces.