The M23 rebels announced the capture of Goma in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Congolese rebels said on Sunday they had taken Goma, the biggest city in the east of the mineral-rich country, after a lightning advance that has forced thousands of people to flee and fuelled concerns of a regional war.

North Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma.

Authorities say the governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained in fighting on the front line as M23 rebels close in on Goma.

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,

Governor of Congo's North-Kivu province dies from wounds sustained on frontline as rebels close in on major eastern city.

The United States, France and Britain pressured Rwanda on Sunday over its support for rebels rapidly closing in on eastern Congo's largest city, as

United Nations (UN) temporarily relocates non-critical staff from Goma (North-Kivu) without interrupting its operations

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, as the United Nations described a "mass panic" among its two million people.

Gunshots rang out Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city of Goma, AFP journalists heard, after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused Rwanda of sending fresh troops

Gunfire broke out on Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city Goma after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighbouring Rwanda of sending more troops across the