Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,

The M23 militia, funded and directed by Rwanda, said it had seized the city of Goma, terrifying its people, many of whom sought shelter there after fleeing the rebel advance.

Colleta Nzabonipa, 54, sits among other internally displaced people who fled from various camps following fighting between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Goma,

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Rwandan-backed M23 rebels laying siege to eastern Congo's largest city Goma ordered defending government forces late on Sunday to disarm and surrender, saying they were preparing to enter and take control.

Congolese security forces have tried to slow the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who say they have captured Goma after entering eastern Congo’s largest city

The militia seized the pivotal city of Goma, threatening a new humanitarian crisis in a region that has suffered decades of fighting.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.