Goma is a key location in the conflict-battered North Kivu province whose minerals are critical to much of the world’s technology.

Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said Kinshasa wanted to prevent "carnage," with Rwanda's forces in the east of the country. It comes after the M23 group claimed to have taken the city of Goma.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

Residents greeted the arrival of Rwanda-backed rebels with trepidation, some staying indoors and others coming out to cheer in what one called a "show" of happiness.

M23 rebels said they have advanced into Goma, a large city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced.

"It was a terrible night," local sources told Fides from Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was conquered today, January 27, by the rebels of the M23 movement.

The three-year insurgency by the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 has intensified, and the U.N. warned the violence could spill into a wider war.

Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces. Fighting has escalated in recent days despite

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.

Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said Kinshasa wanted to prevent "carnage," with Rwanda's forces in the east of the country. It comes after the M23 group claimed to have taken the city of Goma.

Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces.