STORY: President Paul Kagame said that Rwanda was ready to, quote, "deal with" any possible "confrontation" with South Africa, should it arise over the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo's largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, hours after Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion.

Africa correspondent Nabil Ahmed Rufai talks to Nathan about a plane crash in South Sudan, which killed 20 oil workers on board, the military governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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.

Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame blasted criticism of his country's role in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels his government backs have seized its largest city, saying Kigali is prepared for "confrontation" if necessary.

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.

They may be on opposite sides of the Congolese battlefield only by proxy, but Pretoria and Kigali are now trading undiplomatic warnings. The war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is also stirring up old disputes between the two countries.

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.

Congo's leader has called on young people to enlist in the army to help fight Rwanda-backed rebels attempting to seize more territory in the country's conflict-battered east.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame blasted criticism of his country's role in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels his government backs have seized its largest city, saying Kigali is prepared for "confrontation" if necessary.

DR Congo's president has vowed a "vigorous" military response against Rwandan-backed fighters who have advanced further in the mineral-rich east of the country after seizing most of the region's main