At the invitation of the army and a private military company, mainly from Eastern Europe, a dozen journalists, including an AFP reporter, were able to visit the front lines in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. M23 rebels and militias loyal to the Congolese government have battled across the area recently, breaking a precarious truce that has lasted for months. In a rare victory against the Rwanda-backed M23, the loyalist militias this month regained the strategic town of Kitshanga, in North Kivu's Masisi province. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES