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.

Bodies are lying on the streets. Medical staff in overwhelmed hospitals are treating hundreds of wounded civilians against the backdrop of gunfire and mortar fire.

A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed 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, the Associated Press reported.

A rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had seized the lakeside city of more than 2 million people.

In just a few days, rebel fighters and Rwandan soldiers succeeded in taking the major city in eastern Congo. This lightning offensive was prepared in Kigali.

M23 rebels claim they now control the Congolese city of Goma—an act Congo's government described as a 'declaration of war.'

M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma in the eastern DRC Monday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee in the latest in a series of advances - Anadolu Ajansı

The Red Cross voiced alarm Tuesday over the risk that fighting in the besieged DR Congo city of Goma could cause samples of Ebola and other pathogens held in a laboratory to escape.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Gunfire rippled across east Congo's largest city Goma where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels still faced pockets of resistance from army and pro-government militias on Tuesday,

Gunshots rang out through parts of the besieged DR Congo city of Goma on Tuesday, as Congolese soldiers clashed with militia fighters backed by Rwandan troops ahead of a UN Security Council meeting.