Violence erupts in mineral-rich DR Congo as rebels move into key city. Heres what we know | National & World [Video]

(CNN) — A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

The takeover of Goma is yet another territorial gain for the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) rebel coalition, which includes the M23 armed group – sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations.

It is also a swift expansion of the alliance’s foothold across swathes of eastern DR Congo – where rare minerals crucial to the production of phones and computers are mined – and is likely to worsen a long-running humanitarian crisis in the region.

“AFC-M23 controls Goma,” Victor Tesongo, an AFC spokesperson, told CNN Monday, adding that “Goma fell under pressure” after the group’s earlier seizure of the nearby towns of Minova and Saké.

The Congolese government has yet to confirm the rebels’ …