Congo's army on Thursday said they were hunting rebels deep into forests and mountains along the border with Rwanda and Uganda, the last insurgent hideouts after they were driven from towns they held during a 20-month rebellion.
Clashes were reported in the hills above Bunagana, the last rebel-controlled town to fall this week, and around Runyoni, a hill that was the birthplace of the rebellion last year.
At their peak last November, M23 occupied the regional capital, Goma, after the army fled and rebels marched past peacekeepers. This defeat led to the U.N. force and mandate being bolstered, an overhaul of Congo's army command and pressure on rebel support, changing the tide of the fighting.
While the deep roots of conflict - ranging from the presence of Rwandan Hutu rebels, ethnic tensions and simmering conflicts over land and minerals - remain, the pace of the advance of Congo's army is unprecedented.
U.N. experts and human rights groups have repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing M23, the latest in a series of rebellions in eastern Congo that has been linked to Rwanda's political and military elite.
Rwanda, which has repeatedly sent its army into Congo on the pretext of hunting Hutu rebels who fled there after the 1994 genocide, denies the accusation.
