Congolese officials say the army has recaptured one of the last remaining strongholds of Rwanda-backed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, raising hopes that the end to the 18-month-old rebellion is near.

The Congolese army, the FARDC, retook the town of Bunagana on Wednesday after the March 23 movement (M23) abandoned it, leaving civilians to celebrate in the streets.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, said that "several dozen" M23 rebels had surrendered to the UN peacekeepers.

On Monday, UN special representative Martin Kobler to Congo told the Security Council, "We are witnessing the military end of the M23."

"Practically all M23 positions were abandoned yesterday, except for a small triangle at the Rwandan border," said Martin Kobler, who is also the head of the 20,000-strong MONUSCO.

He said the M23 had abandoned a key position on Mount Hehu near the Rwandan border, adding, "It is practically the military end of the M23."

Speaking to the nation on Wednesday night, Congolese President Joseph Kabila asked the remaining M23 fighters to surrender, saying, "I reiterate my call to the members of this armed group who have just been flushed out of our territory ... to demobilize themselves voluntarily," Kabila said. "Failure to do so will leave us with no option but to force them to do by force."

Peace talks between Congolese government and the M23 rebels have been suspended over disagreements on an amnesty for the rebels.

The Congolese army is battling the rebels with the help of the new UN intervention brigade in the east of the country. The brigade, made up of some 3,000 troops, has a stronger mandate compared to previous UN peacekeeping missions.

The intervention brigade was created after the M23 rebels invaded and briefly occupied Goma, home to about one million people, last November. The rebels withdrew from the city on December 1, 2012 under a ceasefire accord.

The M23 rebels and several other armed groups are active in the eastern Congo and are fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.

The M23 rebels defected from the FARDC in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the army.

Since early May 2012, nearly three million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but about 500,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.