20th Extraordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State in Burundi

East African leaders called for an immediate ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at an extraordinary summit called to find ways of calming the raging conflict.

The talks were hosted in Burundi by the seven-nation East Africa Community (EAC), which is leading mediation efforts to end the fighting in the vast central African nation.

A resurgent rebel group known as the M23 has taken swathes of land in the mineral-rich east and fighting is continuing despite a peace roadmap hammered out in the Angolan capital in July last year and the deployment of an EAC force in November.

The heads of state called for an "immediate ceasefire by all parties" and the withdrawal of all armed groups, including foreign, in a statement issued after the summit.

They directed army chiefs to meet within a week to set timelines for the withdrawal, while also highlighting "the need for enhanced dialogue among all the parties".

Both present in Burundi's lakeside economic hub of Bujumbura were DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

Tens of thousands of people are "caught in the vice of armed violence" in the face of the recent advance of M23 rebels in the east, the UN's humanitarian coordination office in DRC said in a statement.

In a statement ahead of the summit, the Congolese presidency had called for the EAC force to be made more "offensive" to tackle the rebels.