Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they are now in control of the key eastern Congolese city of Goma. Their fighters continue to claim more territory in one of the world's most mineral-rich territories.

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,

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped, the Associated Press reported.