Congo's leader has called on young people to enlist in the army to help fight Rwanda-backed rebels attempting to seize more territory in the country's conflict-battered east.

Regional tensions spiral as peacekeepers killed in fighting following Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group offensive

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.

The group's capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, is a dramatic escalation in a region that has seen decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups.

Kenya has announced a virtual crisis summit, but Congolese state media says President Felix Tshisekedi will not attend.

The rebels, which Rwanda denies supporting, have long been funded at least in part by the illicit mineral trade.

By Yassin Kombi and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame blasted criticism of his country's role in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels his government backs have seized its largest city,

Local sources said Kigali-backed fighters were advancing on a new front and had seized two districts in South Kivu province, after the rebel group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

Rwanda-backed fighters advanced on a second front in their lightning offensive across eastern DR Congo on Wednesday after seizing control of most of the key city of Goma during heavy fighting with the Congolese military.

Congolese security forces on Tuesday tried to slow the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who say they have captured Goma after

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels asserted their control over east Congo's largest city Goma on Thursday by calling on residents to resume normal life, even as the group clashed with Congolese troops as they tried to take more territory.