On the shores of Lake Kivu, Goma residents were busy filling up plastic jerrycans with lake water. Less than a week since Rwanda-backed rebels claimed control of the city, basic services like water, internet and electricity were completely cut off.

Goma, the capital of North Kivu, is both a strategic economic hub and a trade conduit to Rwanda. Rwanda frames its involvement as a necessary step to neutralise FDLR, an armed group with historical ti

The rebels, which Rwanda denies supporting, have long been funded at least in part by the illicit mineral trade.

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Meanwhile, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said his country will “deal” with any confrontation from South Africa after 13 of its peacekeepers in eastern Congo were killed.

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

Troops from Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have been firing at each other across their shared border in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, where Rwandan-backed rebels launched an offensive,

In the capital, Kinshasa, protesters complaining of a lack of international action attacked foreign embassies, including those of the U.S., France and Rwanda.

In 2012, when M23 rebels appeared poised to seize control of a major city in eastern Congo, western countries suspended aid to put pressure on Rwanda to withdraw its support.

When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern.

Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.