The M23 is now moving towards the town of Uvira near the Burundi border on the northwestern tip of Lake Tanganyika, the main exit route for fleeing Congolese soldiers. Around 42,000 people have fled the conflict and crossed into Burundi in the past two weeks, the United Nations said Friday.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels advanced on Sunday into the centre of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, meeting little resistance from government troops, witnesses and the armed group said, as Congo accused Rwanda of ignoring calls for a ceasefire.