The M23 armed group and Rwandan forces launched a new offensive on Wednesday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, days before the Rwandan and Congolese presidents are due to attend a crisis summit.

The capture of Goma, the main city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, last week by the M23 rebel group follows a three-year insurgency heavily supported by neighbouring Rwanda despite its awful impact on millions of Congolese civilians.

Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma.

Rebels in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, began a ceasefire on Tuesday and people rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week's battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who captured Goma declared a ceasefire on Monday and largely upheld it,

A rebel group that claimed to have captured the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fighting with the Congolese military has left hundreds of people dead.