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.

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.

Desperation, looting and bodies in the streets are being reported in Goma, after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have captured the Congolese city. It's the latest move after years of fighting in the country's mineral-rich east.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

Protesters have attacked missions in the capital of the African country as anger grows about the advance of the M23 rebel group.

The UN peacekeeping force in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has warned of the risk of ethnically motivated attacks as conditions deteriorate in the region, haunted by the legacy of

Battle for control of central African nation fuelled by increasing demand for minerals crucial in manufacture of smartphones and laptops