M23 fighters, backed by Rwanda, continue to advance into eastern DR Congo. "One of the main factors explaining the weakness of the FARDC lies in systemic corruption," suggested Alain De Neve, a researcher at the Royal Higher Institute for Defense in Brussels,

ITS soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursuing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup.

SADC summit terminates mandate of military mission in DR Congo Kigali, Rwanda | NEW TIMES RWANDA |  A Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on Thursday, March 13, terminated the mandate of the regional bloc’s military mission in eastern DR Congo and “directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal” of its troops from the country,

Mine shafts snake under the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's mountains, but instead of the Congolese government their rich veins are making a mint for the Rwanda-backed M23.

Advancing anti-government fighters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo forced the temporary closure of the world's third most productive tin mine, its operator said in a statement received by AFP Friday.