A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

Refugees, surrendering Congolese soldiers and stranded truckers thronged the Rwandan border on Tuesday, hoping to reach safety after rebels captured the nearby Congolese city of Goma and spurred them to flee.

Vladimir Putin grabbed Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, and pretended he had not. As a figleaf he used local separatist forces, which Russia armed, supplied and directed. These forces, he claimed,

Anti-Rwandan protests broke out in Kinshasa Tuesday morning, as rebels battled Congolese forces in the key eastern city of Goma.

Rwandan diplomats say their army is not deployed in the DRC, but if it was it would be to protect the Congolese Tutsi community and their own borders against the rebel Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda. The FDLR includes combatants who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Desperation, looting and bodies in the streets are being reported in Goma, after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have captured the Congolese city. It's the latest move after years of fighting in the country's mineral-rich east.

Residents reported gunfire overnight in Goma, a city of 2 million people which the rebels claimed to have captured on Monday. Explosions and gunfire were heard near the now-shut Goma airport.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - After three years on the run from the Rwandan-backed M23 insurgency in eastern Congo, on Sunday, with the rebels fighting their way into Goma's city outskirts, Colleta Nzambonimpa found herself in church with nowhere left to turn.

Congo's security forces are fighting against Rwanda-backed rebels who advanced into a key eastern city in a major escalation of a decadeslong conflict.

In our news wrap Tuesday, a rebel group backed by Rwanda has claimed the critical Congo city of Goma, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting gender transition for anyone under the age of 19 and Oklahoma's Board of Education voted unanimously to require parents to provide proof of their child's immigration status when enrolling them in public schools.