development storydevelopment story,

Witnesses said they saw rebels move into the center of the eastern city of Goma amid gunfire as the United Nations called for an end to the offensive.

Gunfire rippled across parts of Goma, the largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hours after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels They seized on this despite calls from the United Nations Security Council to end the offensive.

The armed group announced the capture of the city in a statement earlier on Monday as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said their advance was a “declaration of war” by Rwanda and the United Nations said the capture was a cause for concern among Goma’s 2 million residents. “mass panic”.

M23 claimed that minutes earlier it had given the Congolese army a 48-hour deadline to hand over its weapons. Its fighters also urged Goma residents to remain calm and prompted DRC troops to gather at the central stadium.

Two witnesses told the Reuters news agency that rebels had entered central Goma. One shared a brief video showing armed men marching through the streets, the agency reported.

Advances by the M23 rebel alliance have forced tens of thousands into Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east and raised concerns that the decades-old conflict risks reshaping the wider regional war.

M23 fighter jets have been locked in clashes with Congolese troops and United Nations peacekeepers on the outskirts of Goma for several days.

The fight for the key city is the latest chapter in fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region grappling with regional rivalries, ethnic disputes and armed militia conflicts for more than three decades that has sparked protests around the world. one of the worst humanitarian crises.

In a video posted on X, DRC government spokesman Patrick Muyaya called for the protection of civilians and said the country was “in a state of war.”

Anger at Goma’s M23 advance, Relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda on Saturday called for U.N. sanctions against its neighbor.

Kenya announced on Sunday that DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame had agreed to continue the fight in Goma as international pressure brought an end to the struggle. Attend the summit in the next two days.

Kenyan President William Ruto called on the two leaders to “listen to the calls for peace from the people of our region and the international community.”

Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Ruto, chairman of the East African Community Group, would hold an emergency meeting in the event.

Amid the crisis on Sunday, Kinshasa’s top diplomat warned at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council that the growing number of Rwandan troops “are engaged in open and deliberate violations of sovereignty”.

“This is a frontal attack, a declaration of war that is no longer hidden behind diplomatic finesse,” Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner just said.

Kigali dismissed the statement as offering “no solutions” and blamed Kinshasa for triggering the latest escalation.

“Fighting close to Rwanda’s borders continues to pose a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity and requires Rwanda’s continued defense posture,” Rwanda’s foreign ministry said.

UN experts say Rwanda has deployed 3,000-4,000 troops and provided significant firepower, including missiles and snipers, to support M23s in the fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement late Sunday, the U.N. Security Council called for the withdrawal of active “external forces” in the region, but stopped short of naming them explicitly.

The statement came as UN chief Antonio Guterres called on Rwanda to withdraw its armed forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – a call that Kigali rejected.

About a dozen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating conflict.