Dar es Salaam, Feb. 11 -- DR CONGO: EASTERN Democratic Republic of Congo has appeared calm for a second day after regional powers appealed for a ceasefire amid fears the fighting could spark a wider conflict.

Pupils in the regional capital Bukavu were returning to school, an AFP news agency journalist saw on Monday, after schools shuttered in the city on Friday as residents began to flee and shops closed over fears of an imminent attack by M23 fighters.

The front line was calm at midday Monday after intense fighting on Saturday about 60 kilometres from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, according to local and security sources.

The M23 rebels, which claims to protect ethnic Tutsis, began advancing in South Kivu after ...