The armed group March 23 Movement (M23) today claimed control of the city of Goma, capital of the province of North Kivu, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In recent days, there have been intense fighting between the M23 and the DRC Army, which has displaced thousands.
In a statement, the Congo River Alliance (AFC-M23, in French), a political-military coalition in the DRC that is part of the M23, announced a "glorious day marking the liberation of the city of Goma".
"We call on all residents of Goma to remain calm. The liberation of the city has been successfully achieved and the situation is under control," the armed group said.
The M23 noted that "all FARDC (DRC Armed Forces) military personnel must immediately hand over their weapons and military equipment to MONUSCO (the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the country) for safekeeping."
Earlier, heavy artillery fire was heard in the center of Goma.
Journalists from Agence France Presse (AFP) who were at the scene heard several explosions.
At the same time, the prison with around 3,000 inmates was set on fire after an escape that caused deaths, a local source told AFP, without giving figures.
Escaped prisoners were seen on the city streets, an AFP journalist noted.
Meanwhile, buses were made available to evacuate UN staff from Goma.
Rwanda and M23 accuse the DRC army of cooperating with the rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded in 2000 by leaders of the 1994 genocide and other exiled Rwandans.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called on the Rwanda Defence Forces (ARF) to withdraw from the east and stop supporting M23.
In the last 48 hours, António Guterres recalled, three Monusco soldiers, two from South Africa and one from Uruguay, were killed in combat while eleven were injured.
M23's armed activity resumed in November 2021 with attacks against the Congolese army in North Kivu, and in March 2022 the group launched a large-scale armed offensive.
Since then, the M23 has advanced on several fronts until reaching a position near Goma, where two million people live.
Since 1998, eastern DRC has been facing a conflict between armed militias despite the presence of MONUSCO.
