Bukavu's fall, if confirmed, marks the armed group's most significant advance since it revived a decade-old insurgency in east Congo in 2022.

Residents and business owners in eastern Congo's second largest city are sitting in wait after a night of loud gunfire marking the ongoing advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.

The M23 rebels are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east, and are supported by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to the U.