Belgium on Wednesday warned its citizens against traveling to DR Congo, as Brussels Airlines scrapped a flight to Kinshasa after violent protests erupted over the conflict rocking the east of the country.

M23 Rebels Seize Goma Airport, Bodies on Streets Amid Clashes | Firspost Africa | N18G In DR Congo, conflict is intensifying with the M23 rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda who have tightened their grip on DR Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are looking to occupy the major Congolese city of Goma, after previously doing so in 2012

Rwanda-backed M23 Rebels Capture Goma Airport as Clashes Intensify |Firstpost Africa |N18G In DR Congo, conflict is intensifying with the M23 rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda who have tightened their grip on DR Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

Dozens of demonstrators on Tuesday attacked and set fires to parts of nine foreign embassies for allegedly backing the rebel group - M23.

Protests erupted in Kinshasa as demonstrators targeted foreign embassies, demanding action against Rwanda's alleged support of M23 rebels in eastern Congo. The rebels, aiming for control of Goma, have intensified the region's humanitarian crisis and prompted international condemnation of Rwanda's involvement.

In the capital, Kinshasa, protesters complaining of a lack of international action attacked foreign embassies, including those of the U.S., France and Rwanda.

GOMA: An armed group backed by Rwandan troops took control of the airport in the besieged DR Congo city of Goma while protesters complaining of international inaction over the crisis attacked several embassies in the capital Kinshasa, dealing a major blow to Congolese forces and putting the regional capital on the brink of falling on Tuesday.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), told a briefing in Geneva colleagues had reported “heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets”.

Belgium has asked the Netherlands and Spain to extradite two suspects in connection with an Islamist militant attack in Brussels in 2023 that killed two Swedish citizens and injured a third person.

Just over three years after the resurgence of the M23 in eastern DR Congo, the rebel group's war with a government coalition saw its biggest escalation on Sunday, January 26, when the rebels entered Goma,