Gun-toting M23 fighters on Thursday watched on as requisitioned locals cleaned up streets in the eastern DR Congo city of Bukavu seized by the Rwanda-backed group. Local community group leader Bagalwa Rubakuza said that drives like the clean-ups have always been organised "without success".

M23 rebels shot dead three children when they stormed into the city of Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations has said.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured the eastern city of Bukavu with the backing of Rwandan forces, the second major city in the mineral-rich Kivu region to fall in three weeks.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels advanced on Sunday into the centre of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, meeting little resistance from government troops, witnesses and the armed group said, as Congo accused Rwanda of ignoring calls for a ceasefire.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, seizing the regional governor's office. Some people lined the streets to clap and cheer the fighters as they marched and drove into the city centre without resistance.

Columns of M23 fighters allied with Rwandan troops on Sunday entered the centre of another key city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the African Union highlighted growing fears that the strife-torn country could break up.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), during a rapid advance in the region. Watch this report for more details!