Nearly 3,000 people were killed over the last week as rebels captured a key city in one of the deadliest battles in the Central African country in decades.

Rebels in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, began a ceasefire on Tuesday and people rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week's battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease.

A man stands in front of a gas station office that was hit by light and heavy weapons during the fighting in the town that led to the fall of Goma to the M23 rebels, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

The Rwanda-backed rebels who captured a major city in eastern Congo have sought to reassure its residents about their safety

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group was threatening another key town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, as the United Nations top rights body said it would launch an investigation

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that the worst could be ahead in the escalating crisis in eastern Congo, saying he expected sexual violence including incidents of rape and sexual slavery to increase.

Worse violence "may be yet to come" in the conflict-hit Democratic Republic of Congo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Friday. An offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group against Congolese forces in and around the eastern city of Goma has left almost 3,