The Rwandan-backed armed group M23 moved south as it closed in on a key military airport in DR Congo on Friday, a day after pledging to take the capital Kinshasa and as international criticism mounted.

Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country's foreign minister has told the BBC. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said this followed decades of impunity and failure to hold Rwandan President Paul Kagame accountable for violating international law.

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.