Katanty and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Rwandan-backed rebels marched into east Congo's largest city Goma on Monday and Congolese troops exchanged fire with the Rwandan military across the border,
Video showed inmates escaping a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo as Rwandan-backed M23 rebels entered the eastern city of Goma. Thousands of civilians and Congolese soldiers fled to neighboring Rwanda in the latest escalation of conflict in the region.
Rwandan-backed rebels have taken over much of the city of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, although some gunfire can still be heard. There are reports of Congolese and Rwandan troops firing at each other across the border. Columns of M23 rebels have entered the city.
M23 rebels claim they now control the Congolese city of Goma—an act Congo's government described as a 'declaration of war.'
People who fled M23 rebels around Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have found themselves with nowhere left to go.
Congolese M23 rebels entered the centre of the eastern city of Goma on Monday, two witnesses said, hours after they claimed to have seized the city despite the United Nations Security Council demanding an end to the offensive.
STORY: Rwandan-backed rebels marched into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's largest city on Monday, according to witnesses.That's prompted thousands of people, including Congolese soldiers, to flee across the border into Rwanda.
M23 rebels said they have advanced into Goma, a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced.
Gunfire rang out early on Monday across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, hours after Rwanda-backed rebels said they had seized the city despite the United Nations Security Council's calling for an end to the offensive.
The M23 armed group and Rwandan soldiers entered the centre of Goma on Sunday night after weeks of advancing on the main city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province.
DR Congo soldiers have surrendered to Rwandan forces following fierce clashes with the M23 rebel movement in DR Congo's eastern North Kivu province, state-owned TV in Rwanda is reporting. The soldiers have been fleeing across the border to the Rwandan town of Rubavu, the report claimed in a video posted on X.