The UN Human Rights Council will discuss the devastating violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday.

According to the government, about 3,000 people have been killed and 700,000 displaced since the beginning of January as a result of the advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in and around the city of Goma.

The authorities said a mass rape of women had taken place in a prison.

The resource-rich region has seen fighting for years.

Congo accuses neighbouring Rwanda of trying to get its hands on the lucrative natural resources there.

They include coltan, gold, diamonds and cobalt.

The council can demand an end to the violence by means of a resolution, but it cannot enforce anything.

The Congolese government hopes that the council will decide on a formal investigation of the events so that those guilty of massacres can be held to account.

The United Nations estimates that thousands of soldiers from Rwanda are fighting alongside M23 rebels in Congo.

On Thursday, UN secretary general António Guterres said that he feared the conflict could expand into a full-blown regional war and appealed to the sides to end the fighting. 

(dpa/NAN)