Surrounded by insurgent fighters, the leader of Congo’s rebels held his first public rally today in newly conquered territory, telling the few thousand people who showed up “not to be afraid”.

Thousands of new UN peacekeeping troops should arrive in Congo within weeks, it was announced today.

Hollywood star Ben Affleck is trying to highlight the plight of those caught in the Congo fighting by touring refugee camps and meeting aid workers.

Rebel forces said they were pulling back from a fleeing Congo army today to allow peace talks.

A retreat by Congo government troops in the face of continued rebel attacks was in danger of turning into a rout today.

Congo’s army clashed with rebels in some of the worst fighting in a week despite the rebel leader’s promise to support a ceasefire, the United Nations said today.

REBEL leader Laurent Nkunda yesterday called for ceasefire talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo government after meeting a UN peace envoy even as new clashes broke out between his fighters and the army.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s main rebel leader today promised his support of a ceasefire and UN efforts to end the fighting.

FOOD supplies were delivered across rebel-held areas of eastern Congo yesterday for the first time in weeks.

Food supplies were delivered across rebel-held areas of eastern Congo today for the first time in weeks.

Tensions escalated in war-battered eastern Congo today after Angola announced it was sending troops to aid government forces.

The United Nations’ most powerful body is close to approving 3,000 more peacekeeping troops for war-torn areas of eastern Congo, diplomats said today.

THE leader of the Congo’s eastern province has denied army forces are using child soldiers, instead claiming rebels are arming youngsters.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire today to urgently help “at least 100,000 refugees” cut off by fighting in rebel-held areas in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A cholera outbreak in a sprawling refugee camp spread to eastern Congo’s provincial capital of Goma, increasing fears of an epidemic amid a tense stand-off between government troops and rebels.

A cholera outbreak has spread to the eastern Congo capital of Goma, increasing fears of an epidemic.

African leaders grappled today with a long-simmering crisis in Zimbabwe and a new humanitarian catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Fears that fighting in eastern Congo will spread were raised today after it was revealed that Angolan troops joined government forces attacking rebels near the city of Goma.

African leaders and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were holding a crisis meeting today aimed at ending the latest fighting in eastern Congo.

UN peacekeepers found the bodies of a dozen shot civilians yesterday in an eastern Congo village occupied by Tutsi rebels who have seized fresh territory in North Kivu province, witnesses and a UN spokesman said.

A ceasefire called by Congo rebels appeared to be unravelling today.

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo fought pro-government militiamen for a second day in the town of Kiwanja today, forcing thousands to flee.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government today refused rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s demand for direct talks to solve the crisis in eastern Kivu province, where tens of thousands of desperate refugees were receiving international aid.

BRITISH Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday he has not ruled out sending troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a United Nations bid to avert a looming humanitarian disaster.

UN aid convoy delivered vital medical supplies to Congo refugees today for the first time since fighting began weeks ago.

The first humanitarian convoy to go behind rebel lines since violence erupted in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo more than two months ago set off today.

International envoys converged on eastern Congo to help end some of the worst violence in years as thousands of anxious, hungry refugees struggled to get home amid a fragile ceasefire.

Aid agencies today warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of Congo after fierce fighting between the government and rebel forces.

The rebel Congo general laying siege to Goma demanded direct talks with the government today over ending fighting in the region.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged Congo’s government to get control of its troops in the African nation’s conflict-wracked east and help beleaguered peacekeepers protect thousands of civilians.

Soldiers began to flee the eastern Congo provincial capital Goma today in retreat from advancing rebels.

UN soldiers are boosting numbers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as battling armed groups continue fighting on all fronts.

Rebels loyal to a renegade warlord seized an east Congo army base and the headquarters of a park housing some of the world’s last mountain gorillas, in heavy fighting today that sent thousands of civilians fleeing, UN officials and rebels said.

Juno McEnroe reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting has displaced thousands of civilians and threatens to escalate into a full-scale, bloody war.

The top United Nations envoy to Congo warned that renewed fighting in the east had heightened ethnic tensions and could lead to the renewal of a wider conflict in central Africa.

FRANCE and the Netherlands reacted swiftly on Saturday to a newly signed peace accord in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the latter announcing millions of euro in aid to help stabilise the troubled east.

REBELS have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the species, conservationists said Sunday.

Three mass graves have been discovered in an eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the DRC formerly controlled by a rebel warlord that has been the scene of recent clashes, the United Nations said today.

As many as 10,000 Congolese refugees have crossed into western Uganda in less than 24 hours, fleeing fighting in Congo’s east, officials said today.

Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said today, sparking fears more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region.

UN forces opened fire on angry mobs, killing two people, as massive looting protests overran Congo’s capital today in outrage at the fall of an eastern border city to rebels.

President Joseph Kabila declared a “general mobilisation” across Congo after an eastern border city fell to renegade commanders, and pledged Congo’s army would protect Africa’s third-largest nation.