We will stay here in Congo and fight. If we do not stay alive here, let’s stay dead here,’ said Congo’s defence minister.

Rioters stormed embassies and started fires in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, drawing tear gas from police, in an eruption of protests over a Rwandan-backed rebel offensive in the east.

Critical minerals factor into the fight.

United Nations officials say there were dead bodies on the streets of eastern Congo’s largest city where hospitals are overwhelmed and hundreds of thousands are fleeing gunfire and shelling.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped, the Associated Press reported.

Many blame the United States, France and other allies for allowing neighboring Rwanda to fuel a conflict in the country’s east.

Protesters have attacked missions in the capital of the African country as anger grows about the advance of the M23 rebel group.

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital and seek to gain political power.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for a urgent cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo saying Washington was "deeply troubled" by a recent escalation in the fighting.

Thousands fled the city of Goma on Monday as fighting raged between Congolese forces and rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda, who claimed to have captured eastern Congo’s largest regional hub.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Dramatic scenes unfolded in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday, February 28, as armed protesters attacked and set fire to the French and US embassies.