For those living in Goma, which has been captured by Rwanda-backed rebels, there is little water, little food and much uncertainty.

After Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control of the biggest city in eastern Congo this week, the man who emerged from the shadows to assert his leadership was not the group's long-time military leader.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world by land area.

Rebels backed by Rwanda are seizing huge tracts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels, known as M23, say they are protecting ethnic Tutsis, the minority group massacred in a 1994 genocide.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they are now in control of the key eastern Congolese city of Goma. Their fighters continue to ...