Rwandan-backed rebels who have swept through eastern Congo this week met resistance from the army and its allies including Burundian troops as they tried to push south on Friday, a Congolese official and another source said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral body has accused the Rwandan army and M23 rebels of looting polling office facilities in Goma, a city in eastern Congo. The Independent National Electoral Commission said Thursday that “members of the Rwandan army and their M23 supporters” looted the Provincial Executive Secretariat facilities and warehouses in Goma on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest city said on Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, while Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilisation to resist the rebellion and his defence minister rejected calls for talks.