M23 is the latest in a long line of Rwandan-backed rebel movements to emerge in Congo's volatile eastern borderlands following two successive wars stemming from Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Rwanda denies supporting the well-trained and heavily armed Tutsi-led group.

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,

Over 2,000 bodies bow require burial in Goma after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took over the Democratic of Congo city, inflaming a decade-old conflict and humanitarian crisis. Congo’s communications minister Patrick Muyaya on Tuesday confirmed the mass burial,