The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi will not take part in regionally brokered talks aimed at ending the rebel assault on the key eastern city of Goma, state media has reported.

DR Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that his troops were mounting a military response as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters advanced in the east of the country.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

In April 2022, EAC leaders met in Nairobi, Kenya, and agreed to establish a regional force to be deployed in eastern DRC to facilitate dialogue between the warring parties. While the DRC government and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire, tensions persisted.

Some people welcomed a TV address by President Félix Tshisekedi during which he called for a massive military mobilisation.

The war for Goma was the most recent episode of combat in eastern DRC, a volatile region plagued by regional rivalries, ethnic tensions, and armed group battles for more than three decades

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group vowed Thursday to "continue the march of liberation" to the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, as its fighters made further advances in the mineral-rich east of the country.

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, hours after Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion.

Kenyan President William Ruto, the East African Community (EAC) chair, convened a virtual summit on 29 January to discuss the worsening security situation – which Tshisekedi skipped. In his absence, the summit “strongly urged” him to engage directly in talks with the M23.

Hundreds of protestors in the Himbi neighbourhood of Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, on Friday, January 31, called for the removal of Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi as well as the exit of troops from Burundi and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from their country.