Fierce fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than half a million people, the country's foreign minister told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

MONUSCO is storing voluntarily relinquished or abandoned weapons in accordance with international standards,' says Vivian van de Perre - Anadolu Ajansı

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

The UN Security Council is set to meet to address escalating violence in eastern Congo. The conflict, involving Congolese troops and peacekeepers, claimed the lives of nine South African soldiers. Tensions have risen as Rwanda-backed rebels advance towards Goma,

The area was also the epicentre of an outbreak of a new strain of mpox, declared a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024. Dr. Marschang warned that the new wave of displacement will make it increasingly hard to track and treat the disease.

Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo left six United Nations peacekeepers dead, UN officials said Saturday.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday that Washington was "deeply troubled" by escalation in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly the fall of the city of Goma to Rwandan-backed rebels.

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.

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

Many blame the United States, France and other allies for allowing neighboring Rwanda to fuel a conflict in the country’s east.