Rwanda has denied supporting M23. It says its military has been acting in self defence against Congo’s army and a militia founded by some of the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels pressed deeper into Congolese territory a day after Congo and Rwanda's presidents called for an immediate ceasefire, entering the outskirts of the town of Walikale late on Wednesday,

The leader of a rebel alliance that has seized swathes of east Congo told Reuters on Thursday that insurgents were not bound by a ceasefire call from Congo and Rwanda's presidents and cast any minerals-for-security deal with the U.