By James Tasamba and Mevlut Ozkan
KIGALI, Rwanda / ISTANBUL (AA) - Several people were killed as Congolese M23 rebels "seized" Goma city, the provincial capital of eastern North Kivu province, on Monday following days of intense fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has displaced thousands of civilians, according to reports.
Officials in Rwanda claimed that five of its citizens were also killed in cross-border fire from Congo.
Early Monday, M23 rebels, who are allegedly backed by Kigali, claimed they took over Goma while Kinshasa claimed the presence of Rwandan forces in the city.
A Congolese cleric in Goma city, Fepaco Nzambe Malamu, told local media some residents were hit by stray bullets that fell into their homes.
There was yet no official comment on the number of casualties.
Local news portal Media Congo said bombs dropped in several neighborhoods and camps of internally displaced people in Goma, causing many casualties.
Muhindo Nzangi, an elected national legislator for the capital of the province of North Kivu, also stated that Goma city was in the middle of a war.
He claimed the bombs that are causing damage in the city are being fired from Rwanda. “Even children are (affected). All the soldiers who entered the city came through the Rwandan border,” he told Top Congo Radio.
Rwanda Defense Force spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga told the government-aligned newspaper The New Times that several bombs were fired into Rwanda’s border district of Rubavu by the Congolese army, killing five and injuring 35 other citizens.
At least 13 peacekeepers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional force and the UN mission in Congo (MONUSCO) were killed since the renewed offensive by M23 rebels last week.
Congo and others accuse neighboring Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda, however, denies the allegations.
M23 says it is defending the interests of minority Congolese Tutsis, who say they are discriminated against for their ethnic links to Rwanda’s Tutsi community.
The M23 rebels reportedly took control of the facilities of RTNC, the national channel in Goma, according to Radioa Okapi.