Approximately six million people have died in the conflict in the eastern D.R.C. since 1996. For decades, numerous armed groups have competed for power and control of this vast nation’s potential fortune.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed over the last week as rebels captured a key city in one of the deadliest battles in the Central African country in decades.

A man stands in front of a gas station office that was hit by light and heavy weapons during the fighting in the town that led to the fall of Goma to the M23 rebels, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,