Critical minerals factor into the fight.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The worsening conflict in eastern Congo has led to a surge in human rights violations including summary executions, the bombing of displacement camps, reports of gang rape and other sexual violence, the U.N. rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.

The U.N. voices concern over alleged atrocities as Rwandan-backed rebels reportedly advance after seizing the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We will stay here in Congo and fight. If we do not stay alive here, let’s stay dead here,’ said Congo’s defence minister.

South Africa often uses its diplomatic heft to position itself as defender of the "global south" on the world stage, but the deaths of 13 of its soldiers in eastern Congo fighting have exposed an inability to project hard power in its own backyard.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

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.

Residents of the besieged city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, say they are gripped by fear as gunshots continue to ring out around their homes, days after rebel forces claimed they had taken over.

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have vowed to take their fight to the country's capital – but their attempts to march south are have been met by resistance.

The only way to stop the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is through dialogue, Russia said Friday, warning against escalation that could lead to an inter-state conflict. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized the need for immediate peace talks among all parties involved.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.