Video showed inmates escaping a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo as Rwandan-backed M23 rebels entered the eastern city of Goma. Thousands of civilians and Congolese soldiers fled to neighboring Rwanda in the latest escalation of conflict in the region.

People who fled M23 rebels around Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have found themselves with nowhere left to go.

In the aftermath of its withdrawal from Goma, the M23 suffered a series of heavy defeats at the hands of the Congolese army, which was backed by a multinational force. The M23 were subsequently expelled from the country. M23 fighters then agreed to be re-integrated into the army in return for promises that Tutsis would be protected.

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.

Thousands of prisoners in the eastern Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) city of Goma escaped in a mass jail break on Monday as Rwanda-backed rebels said they had captured the strategic city.

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.

STORY: Rwandan-backed rebels marched into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's largest city on Monday, according to witnesses.That's prompted thousands of people, including Congolese soldiers, to flee across the border into Rwanda.

DR Congo soldiers have surrendered to Rwandan forces following fierce clashes with the M23 rebel movement in DR Congo's eastern North Kivu province, state-owned TV in Rwanda is reporting. The soldiers have been fleeing across the border to the Rwandan town of Rubavu, the report claimed in a video posted on X.

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,

Residents of eastern Congo's largest city of Goma greeted the arrival of Rwanda-backed rebels with trepidation on Monday, some staying indoors and others coming out to cheer in what one called a "show" of happiness.

Heavy artillery fire rocked the eastern Congolese city of Goma on Monday as France warned the capital of the mineral-rich region was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and Rwandan troops. Repeated explosions from heavy artillery and intense bursts of gunfire echoed across central Goma on Monday,