Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to protest against recent violence in the North Kivu province, a resource-rich area near the border of Rwanda and Uganda.
The protesters voiced anger over the four-month-old uprising by the M23 rebel group that has displaced up to 470,000 civilians in the area.
Government troops and UN peacekeepers have been struggling to push back advancing rebels in the North Kivu province for the past four months.
The M23 rebel group broke away from the Congolese army in May and have been fighting ever since.
Protestors have also called for unity, which they know is challenging given the country is home to nearly 70 million people and 400 different ethnic groups.
Smaller protest marches took place in cities across the country, including southern mining towns and in Bukavu in South Kivu, which is also plagued by armed militias.
