France's foreign minister on Monday said an offensive by Rwanda-backed armed group M23 on the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma "must stop".

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.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo - The United States, France and Britain pressured Rwanda on Sunday over its support for rebels rapidly closing in on eastern Congo's largest city, as government forces struggled to halt an offensive that has forced thousands of civilians to flee.

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his concerns over the developments in Congo. It comes as Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of eastern Congo’s largest city including its airport, according to the United Nations.

Fighting across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and "is still very much ongoing ... it's not over yet," senior U.N. official in Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, said on Monday after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels claimed to have control of Goma.

Goma residents and UN sources said dozens of troops had surrendered, but some soldiers and pro-government militiamen were holding out

Rebels seized the airport of east Congo's largest city, Goma, on Tuesday, potentially cutting off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people, after capturing the city in an offensive that left dead bodies lying in the streets.

Gunfire rang out early on Monday across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, hours after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels said they had taken control of the city despite the United Nations Security Council's calling for an end to the offensive.

The besieged Congolese city of Goma was rocked by heavy artillery fire on Monday as France warned the regional capital was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will meet Rwandan leader Paul Kagame for an emergency summit Wednesday as M23 rebels backed by Rwandan troops seemed to have seized swathes of the major city of

While M23 rebels closed in on Goma, a major city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the US, UK and France on Friday called on their nationals to leave the area. Clashes between the Congolese