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 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, accusing it of fuelling the rebellion. At least 13 soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces in the DRC have been killed in clashes with M23 rebels,

Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma, leaving at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead and displacing thousands of civilians.