People who fled M23 rebels around Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have found themselves with nowhere left to go.

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

Japan has sent the Democratic Republic of the Congo 50,000 doses of a vaccine against mpox, previously known as monkeypox.

Residents in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, woke up on Monday morning uncertain about who is in control of the city, which Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured.

An insurgency led by the M23 rebels in the east Democratic Republic of Congo has escalated and they have taken control of the key eastern city of Goma.

The M23 militia, funded and directed by Rwanda, said it had seized the city of Goma, terrifying its people, many of whom sought shelter there after fleeing the rebel advance.

STORY: Rwandan-backed rebels marched into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's largest city on Monday, according to witnesses.That's prompted thousands of people, including Congolese soldiers, to flee across the border into Rwanda.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda, accusing it of fuelling the rebellion. At least 13 soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces in the DRC have been killed in clashes with M23 rebels,