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.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has vowed to restore government authority in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized much of the city of Goma and are reportedly advancing south to seize more territory.

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that his troopers are fighting an insurgence by the Rwandan-backed militant group M23 which recently captured swaths of land in the east.

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.

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.