This comes after the reportedly Rwandan-backed rebels said over the weekend they had taken control of the city, the biggest city in the region

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.

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,