GOMA, Congo, Jan 27, (AP): 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 M23 rebels announced the city's capture in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline expired that had been imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons.

Early Monday morning, gunfire was heard throughout the city, according to two aid workers sheltering there who were not authorized to speak to the media. In a statement, the rebels urged residents of Goma to remain calm and for members of the Congolese military to assemble at the central stadium. The M23 rebels’ offensive in the heart of the mineral-rich region threatens to dramatically worsen one of Africa’s longest wars and further displace civilians.

According to a United Nations report, over a third of the population of North Kivu province where Goma is located are currently displaced and the capture of Goma will likely exacerbate the situation. Late Sunday night, UN peacekeepers began to process members of the military who had begun to surrender on the outskirts of the city.

Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya made a statement in a video posted on X calling for the protection of civilians and saying that the country is "in a war situation where the news is changing.” Late Sunday, the U.N.’s special representative for Congo told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that with the airport shut down and roads blocked in the vast region’s humanitarian and security hub, "we are trapped." Congo late Saturday broke off relations with Rwanda, which has denied backing the M23 despite evidence collected by UN experts and others.

The surge of violence has killed at least 13 peacekeepers over the past week. And Congolese were again on the run. The UN Security Council condemned the M23 advances in a statement late Sunday and urged the rebels to withdraw from the territory they'd claimed. The M23 has made significant territorial gains along Congo's border with Rwanda in recent weeks, after months of regional attempts to make peace failed. On Sunday night, the rebels called on Congo's army to surrender their arms and present themselves at a local stadium by 3 a.m. or they would take the city.