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.

Vladimir Putin grabbed Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, and pretended he had not. As a figleaf he used local separatist forces, which Russia armed, supplied and directed. These forces, he claimed,

Refugees, surrendering Congolese soldiers and stranded truckers thronged the Rwandan border on Tuesday, hoping to reach safety after rebels captured the nearby Congolese city of Goma and spurred them to flee.

Anti-Rwandan protests broke out in Kinshasa Tuesday morning, as rebels battled Congolese forces in the key eastern city of Goma.

After three years on the run from the Rwandan-backed M23 insurgency in eastern Congo, on Sunday, with the rebels fighting their way into Goma's city outskirts, Colleta Nzambonimpa found herself in church with nowhere left to turn.

LIVE: All-Out War? Rwanda-Backed Rebels Capture DRC's Goma, Sparking Tensions | Firstpost Africa Africa's two mineral-rich neighbours- the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are locked in a fierce conflict,

Rwandan diplomats say their army is not deployed in the DRC, but if it was it would be to protect the Congolese Tutsi community and their own borders against the rebel Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda. The FDLR includes combatants who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday spoke separately with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda about the escalating conflict in eastern Congo, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

The M23 militia, funded and directed by Rwanda, said it had seized the city of Goma, terrifying its people, many of whom sought shelter there after fleeing the rebel advance.

Rwanda-backed rebels claim they have captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, as the United Nations describe a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government say the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.

African Union Peace and Security Council calls for withdrawal of foreign forces and adherence to peace agreements - Anadolu Ajansı