The United Nations said Wednesday that there is relative calm in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, following several days of intense fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese army for control of the city.

Belgium on Wednesday warned its citizens against traveling to DR Congo, as Brussels Airlines scrapped a flight to Kinshasa after violent protests erupted over the conflict rocking the east of the country.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are looking to occupy the major Congolese city of Goma, after previously doing so in 2012

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

M23 Rebels Seize Goma Airport, Bodies on Streets Amid Clashes | Firspost Africa | N18G In DR Congo, conflict is intensifying with the M23 rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda who have tightened their grip on DR Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

Dozens of demonstrators on Tuesday attacked and set fires to parts of nine foreign embassies for allegedly backing the rebel group - M23.

Protests erupted in Kinshasa as demonstrators targeted foreign embassies, demanding action against Rwanda's alleged support of M23 rebels in eastern Congo. The rebels, aiming for control of Goma, have intensified the region's humanitarian crisis and prompted international condemnation of Rwanda's involvement.

In the capital, Kinshasa, protesters complaining of a lack of international action attacked foreign embassies, including those of the U.S., France and Rwanda.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), told a briefing in Geneva colleagues had reported “heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets”.

Rebels seized the airport of east Congo's largest city, Goma, on Tuesday, potentially cutting off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people, after capturing the city in an offensive that left dead bodies lying in the streets.

Violent demonstrations erupted Tuesday in Congo’s capital Kinshasa in front of several embassies, including Belgian embassy - Anadolu Ajansı