Until now, the international response to the rapidly escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has committed a litany of grave abuses, has been all talk and no action.

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.

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Rwanda-backed rebels have occupied a second major city in the mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the government said, as M23 rebels confirmed they were in Bukavu to restore order after it was abandoned by Congolese forces.

What can stop M23’s advance in Democratic Republic of Congo? | Inside Story In the Democratic Republic of Congo, anxiety is growing in Kinshasa. Rwandan-backed M23 rebels are advancing in the east, spreading out across north and south Kivu and are now aiming for the city of Uvira.

Nearly four weeks after M23 rebels took control of Goma, the families of Congolese soldiers say they have been abandoned. While some have found shelter in schools and churches, the M23 is now pressuring them to leave.