Nearly 3000 people have been killed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations, after it was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army.

M23 rebels continued advances elsewhere in eastern Congo despite their own announcement of a unilateral ceasefire

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital and seek to gain political power

M23 announced a humanitarian "ceasefire", days before a planned crisis meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Rwandan-backed rebels gained ground in eastern Congo on Wednesday despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week, taking control of a city 60 miles (96 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Bukavu,

The group has made dramatic advances in Congo’s North Kivu province since re-emerging as a force in late 2021. It has repeatedly denied receiving support from Rwanda. And the government in Kigali equivocates about its support for the rebels.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized control of a mining town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, eight sources said on Wednesday, in an apparent violation of a unilateral ceasefire they declared this week.

Fighting last week between Congolese government forces and Rwanda-backed rebels in the major eastern city of Goma left at least 900 people dead, the U.N. health agency said Monday, raising the previously cited death toll of 773.

Earlier this week, the M23 declared a ceasefire in Goma, DR Congo. 'The situation is pretty calm in Goma itself', France 24's Emmet Livingston reports, 'but it's important to understand that this is not really a ceasefire,