The U.N. human rights chief said on Friday that he was deeply disturbed by the escalating crisis in eastern Congo, urging all those with influence to help halt the violence and warning of a risk that it spreads beyond the country's borders.

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group continued its advance Thursday through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and looked poised to seize a strategic town, as United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for peace.

The special session of the Human Rights Council was called by the Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of dozens of countries. The government in Kinshasa urged the 47-mem

The U.N.’s top human rights body has condemned Rwanda’s support of rebel fighters across the border in eastern Congo and ordered a team of experts to examine rights violations in the region