Angola’s President Joao Lourenco demanded the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory on Wednesday amid fighting with the M23 rebels in Goma. Lourenco, who is the African Union (AU) mediator between Congo and Rwanda, also urged the resumption of peace talks with the M23 and all other groups operating on Congolese territory.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco has urged warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to return to peace talks, which collapsed last year, the foreign ministry said.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has vowed to restore government authority in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized control of the city of Goma and are reportedly advancing south to take more territory.

By Yassin Kombi and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for "confrontation" as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he is ready to mediate efforts to end the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. John Mulimba,

A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

M23 rebels have made rapid advances in the latest bout of conflict that has long-dogged the mineral-rich east.

President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for "confrontation" as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.