"The players' messages fall in an apparent online campaign driven by Fonarev, a state fund for victims of sexual violence related to the conflicts and insecurity in the country," said the BBC's Samba Cyuzuzo, who has covered the region for many years.

"Since the Leopards arrived in Ivory Coast for Afcon, its players have spread the message 'Plus Jamais Seuls' [No Longer Alone] by Fonarev in compassion with victims of atrocities in the country.

"Some popular musicians, like Fally Ipupa and GIMS, have also spread similar messages."

Formed just over a decade ago, the M23 - which a UN report found was created by DR Congo's eastern neighbour Rwanda - regrouped about two years ago after a previous peace deal floundered and has since taken over large swathes of North Kivu.

Rwanda has always denied backing the M23, but for many years it has criticised the Congolese authorities for failing to disarm ethnic Hutu rebels - some of whom are linked to the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The M23 itself argues that it acts to defend the interest of ethnic Tutsis against Hutu militias it says are backed by the Congolese government, whose soldiers are also present in the region.

In recent years, DR Congo, the UN and the United States have accused Rwanda of sending its soldiers to fight in eastern DR Congo alongside M23 rebels, who face accusations of carrying out war crimes against civilians. Rwanda denies this.

As the fighting for minerals continues to the detriment of DR Congo's innocent victims, a campaign started on TikTok towards the end of last year urging young people to give up using vapes given the human rights abuses carried out in a quest to secure one of their key components - lithium.

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