Rwandan-backed M23 rebels asserted their control over east Congo's largest city Goma on Thursday by calling on residents to resume normal life, even as the group clashed with Congolese troops as they tried to take more territory.

Gunfire rang out early on Monday across parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, hours after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels said they had taken control of the city despite the United Nations Security Council's calling for an end to the offensive.

Rebels seized the airport of east Congo's largest city, Goma, on Tuesday, potentially cutting off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people, after capturing the city in an offensive that left dead bodies lying in the streets.