South Africa often uses its diplomatic heft to position itself as defender of the "global south" on the world stage, but the deaths of 13 of its soldiers in eastern Congo fighting have exposed an inability to project hard power in its own backyard.

Residents of the besieged city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, say they are gripped by fear as gunshots continue to ring out around their homes, days after rebel forces claimed they had taken over.

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital of Kinshasa and seek to gain political power.

The Democratic Republic of  Congo (DRC) continues to face an escalating humanitarian crisis as conflict-driven displacement leaves millions without access to food, clean water, electricity, and basic necessities.

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

Strewn with rubble from mortar and artillery fire, the eastern DR Congo city of Goma awoke on Thursday to a new abnormal -- hiding from bandits and counting the dead.

The Rwandan-backed M23 group is advancing further south in DR Congo, local and humanitarian sources told AFP Thursday, after the group vowed it would march to the capital Kinshasa.

On January 28, a mass demonstration took place in Kinshasa in support of the Congolese army and against the policy of several countries, including France, towards Rwanda. It was accompanied by attacks

Governance consultant Philip Mwangale has outlined the implications of Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi missing William Ruto's meeting.