Katanty and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Rwandan-backed rebels marched into east Congo's largest city Goma on Monday and Congolese troops exchanged fire with the Rwandan military across the border,

Heavy artillery fire and gunshots echoed through the besieged Congolese city of Goma on Monday as DR Congo forces battled militia fighters and Rwandan

"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.

Mount Goma

Gunfire rang out early on Monday across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, hours after Rwanda-backed rebels said they had seized the city despite the United Nations Security Council's calling for an end to the offensive.

The AFC/M23 rebels early Monday, January 27, announced that they captured Goma, the capital of eastern DR Congo's North Kivu Province. The rebels announced the city's capture in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired.

In the last 48 hours, two U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa and one from Uruguay were killed and 11 peacekeepers were injured and hospitalized.

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

The M23 armed group and Rwandan soldiers entered the centre of Goma on Sunday night after weeks of advancing on the main city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province.

Gunfire broke out before dawn Monday in the centre of the besieged Congolese city of Goma, after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighbouring Rwanda of sending more troops across

Congolese soldiers positioned on Mount Goma, a hill within the city, exchanged artillery fire with Rwandan troops on the other side of the border, in the town of Gisenyi, according to two U.N. sources speaking from a U.N. site between the two.