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,

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Congolese M23 rebels entered the centre of the eastern city of Goma on Monday, two witnesses said, hours after they claimed to have seized the city despite the United Nations Security Council demanding an end to the offensive.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, early Monday, as the United Nations described a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.