The Democratic Republic of Congo is in turmoil - fighters from the notorious M23 rebel group have been surging through the country's east, battling the national army and capturing key places as they go.

Around 3,000 people have been killed in clashes between M23 rebels and government forces, and thousands more have been displaced after the worst escalation of fighting in more than a decade.

Leaders at an unprecedented joint summit of Eastern and Southern African blocs aimed at defusing the crisis in Eastern Congo urged all parties to hold direct talks, including with Rwanda-backed rebels whose advance has fanned fears of a wider war.

A summit of leaders from east and southern Africa urged warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo to cease fire and hold meaningful talks to end the violence.

Their crisis talks in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea come as the long-running war escalates.History will judge leaders in Africa who fail to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania warned her counterparts at the start of an emergency summit on the weekend.

Leaders at an unprecedented joint summit of Eastern and Southern African regional blocs stressed on Saturday the urgency of finding a way out of the crisis in eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels' rapid advance has fanned fears of a wider war.

Presidents of Eastern and Southern African regional blocs on Saturday met for an unprecedented joint summit to find a way out of a conflict in eastern Congo, where Rwandan-backed rebels’ rapid advance since January has fanned fears of a wider war.