United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged Rwanda to withdraw its forces from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where fierce fighting raged as Kigali-backed fighters closed in on the major city of Goma.

Fleeing prisoners streamed from the torched jail as Rwanda-backed rebels claim they have captured the strategic city

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.

Rebels claim to have captured the key city of Goma in the DRC, as the decades-long conflict becomes even more volatile. Sky News takes a look at what's going on.

Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces.

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,

The M23 rebel group, which has taken control of large parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in recent years, now says it has captured the key city of Goma, the largest in the area, from government forces.

In the aftermath of its withdrawal from Goma, the M23 suffered a series of heavy defeats at the hands of the Congolese army, which was backed by a multinational force. The M23 were subsequently expelled from the country. M23 fighters then agreed to be re-integrated into the army in return for promises that Tutsis would be protected.

M23 rebels have made rapid advances in the latest bout of conflict that has long-dogged the mineral-rich east.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

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,