Angolan President Joao Lourenco has urged warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to return to peace talks, which collapsed last year, the foreign ministry said.

Advances being made by the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo are "heightening the threat of a regional war," according to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

By Yassin Kombi and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for "confrontation" as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.

Dead bodies lie on the streets of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as heavy fighting continues between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, and the DRC forces supported by international peacekeeping troops.

Rwanda-backed fighters were in control of almost all of the DR Congo city of Goma Wednesday where residents were re-emerging after days of deadly fighting and Angola urged leaders of

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.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday 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.

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

Congolese rebels and allied Rwandan troops claimed on Monday to have captured the mineral-rich city of Goma, as thousands fled fighting that killed at least 13 peacekeepers over the weekend...

Angola’s President Joao Lourenco demanded the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory on Wednesday amid fighting with the M23 rebels in Goma. Lourenco, who is the African Union (AU) mediator between Congo and Rwanda, also urged the resumption of peace talks with the M23 and all other groups operating on Congolese territory.