The M23 rebels announced the city's capture in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels are closing in on Goma, the largest city in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, after killing a Congolese military governor who was visiting the area on Thursday.

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.

Rwanda-backed rebels have claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, as the United Nations describe a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government say the rebel

The city’s capture came following a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons.