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

Over 2,000 bodies require burial in Goma after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took over the Democratic of Congo city last week, inflaming a decade-old conflict and humanitarian crisis, Congo's communications minister Patrick Muyaya said late on Monday.

The U.N. health agency says that fighting last week between Congolese government forces and Rwanda-backed rebels in the major eastern city of Goma left at least 900 people dead, raising the previously