Rwandan-backed M23 rebels asserted their control over east Congo's largest city Goma on Thursday by calling on residents to resume normal life, even as the group clashed with Congolese troops as they tried to take more territory.

When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern.

In Democratic Republic of Congo this week, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels seized Goma, the country's largest eastern city. A force composed of South African troops and Southern African allies that had been tasked with stopping the insurgents has taken heavy losses and is now surrounded and without a clear exit strategy.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling the eastern city of Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

East African Community holds special virtual summit, skipped by DR Congo’s president, to discuss Goma crisis - Anadolu Ajansı

President Cyril Ramaphosa remains in direct contact with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of Rwanda, the perceived backer of the M23 rebels

South Africa and Rwanda have long had a difficult relationship.In 2014, South Africa expelled three Rwandan diplomats after an attack on the home of an exiled Rwandan dissident in Johannesburg. Kagame's government responded by expelling six South African envoys.

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

The Rwanda-backed armed group M23 vowed Thursday to "continue the march of liberation" to the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, as its fighters made further advances in the mineral-rich east of the country.

Local sources said Kigali-backed fighters were advancing on a new front and had seized two districts in South Kivu province, after the rebel group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.