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.

The Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 is battling Congolese government forces in Congo's key city of Goma, causing the international airport there to be evacuated.

Rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo are closing in on a key city in the mineral-rich region aided by neighboring Rwanda’s army, the head of a peacekeeping mission told United Nations Security Council members during an emergency meeting on Sunday.