RWANDA-backed militia now control large parts of eastern Congo and threaten to expand their offensive west into two neighbouring provinces, according to the UN.

In a briefing to the UN security council on what she called “the alarming situation” in Congo, Bintou Keita, the special representative of the secretary-general in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, pointed to the M23 militia’s installation of an administration in South Kivu, and “a mining delegate” in North Kivu — another link between the conflicts in eastern Congo and the illegal exploitation of its mineral riches.

Ms Keita also cited massive human rights violations including more than 100 summary executions, rapes and forced recruitment of children.