France, March 23 -- Uganda's role in eastern DR Congo has largely gone under the radar during recent violence but its complex approach aims to secure long-standing security and economic interests in the mineral-rich area, experts say.

Backed by Rwanda, the M23 armed group has swept through the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, taking two regional capitals.

It is the latest escalation in an area that has long been victim of a patchwork of armed actors scrambling for dominance over the region's vast resources of coltan, gold, tin and tungsten.

Numerous countries have been drawn in over the years, including peacekeepers from southern and eastern Africa trying to support the flailing Congolese military, and Burundian forces protect...