Burundi is withdrawing its forces from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where they had been fighting against M23 rebels, four sources said on Tuesday, in a further blow to Congo's army as it struggles to halt a rebel advance.

M23 fighters on Friday advanced further on several fronts in DR Congo's volatile east as international pressure mounted on Rwanda to stop backing the armed group and halt the fighting.

Burundi is withdrawing its forces from eastern Congo where they had been fighting against M23 rebels, four sources said on Tuesday, in a further blow to the Democratic Republic of Congo army as it struggles to halt a rebel advance.

Burundi is withdrawing its troops from eastern Congo amid accusations against M23 rebels of executing children. Burundi's soldiers have long aided Congolese forces against rebels, while tensions rise with Rwanda over alleged support for M23.

Bangladeshi peacekeepers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) ride in an armoured personnel carrier (APC) as they patrol to protect internally displaced Congolese people in their farming fields,

Rwanda-backed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have advanced southward, reaching Burundi’s border and bringing the central African region to the brink of war, the United Nations said.

Burundi has "accelerated" the withdrawal of some troops from DR Congo, a senior military source told AFP Thursday, as the UN warned the small Great Lakes nation was seeing its biggest influx of refugees from its conflict-riven neighbour in 25 years.