Leader of Congo’s rebel alliance say they have taken Goma | U.S. & World [Video]

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Congolese rebels said on Sunday they had taken Goma, the biggest city in the east of the mineral-rich country, after a lightning advance that has forced thousands of people to flee and fuelled concerns of a regional war.

“We have taken Goma and have ordered soldiers to surrender by 3:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT),” Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23, told Reuters.

Reuters could not independently determine whether the city was fully under rebel control. Spokespeople for the Kinshasa government and the army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have quickly gained ground this month in Democratic Republic of Congo’s conflict-riven eastern borderlands and launched an assault on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier this week.

By Sunday evening, M23 fighters had pushed past Munigi, an outlying neighbourhood around …