Rwanda-backed rebels move deeper into eastern Congo amid reports of execution, rape [Video]

Rwanda-backed rebels were expanding their presence in eastern Congo after capturing Goma, the region’s major city, the UN said Friday, while also expressing concerns over executions it learned were carried out by the rebels in recent days after a major escalation of their yearslong rebellion.

Congolese forces, meanwhile, repelled the rebels in their offensive toward South Kivu’s provincial capital of Bakuvu on Thursday, residents and local officials said.

The M23 rebel group has captured several towns after seizing neighbouring Goma, a humanitarian hub critical for many of the six million people displaced by the conflict. They have said they will march to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is roughly 1,600 kilometres away.

The M23 group is the most potent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.

They are backed by around 4,000 troops from …