People carry their belongings as they flee from their villages around Sake, in Masisi territory, following clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, toward Goma, North Kivu Province on February 7, 2024.
The M23 rebel group has seized the town of Kalembe in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, expanding its reach in the region, an official and a former lawmaker said on Monday.
The rebel group has been waging an insurgency in the central African country's violence-torn east since 2022. Congo and the United Nations accuse neighbouring Rwanda of backing the group with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this but says it has taken so-called defensive measures.
