France's foreign minister on Monday said an offensive by Rwanda-backed armed group M23 on the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma "must stop".

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his concerns over the developments in Congo. It comes as Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of eastern Congo’s largest city including its airport, according to the United Nations.

The besieged Congolese city of Goma was rocked by heavy artillery fire on Monday as France warned the regional capital was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo - The United States, France and Britain pressured Rwanda on Sunday over its support for rebels rapidly closing in on eastern Congo's largest city, as government forces struggled to halt an offensive that has forced thousands of civilians to flee.

In just a few days, rebel fighters and Rwandan soldiers succeeded in taking the major city in eastern Congo. This lightning offensive was prepared in Kigali.

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.

Fighting across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and "is still very much ongoing ... it's not over yet," senior U.N. official in Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, said on Monday after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels claimed to have control of Goma.

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.

While M23 rebels closed in on Goma, a major city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the US, UK and France on Friday called on their nationals to leave the area. Clashes between the Congolese

Dozens of demonstrators on Tuesday attacked and set fires to parts of nine foreign embassies for allegedly backing the rebel group - M23.

President Emmanuel Macron is stepping up diplomatic efforts to address the worsening crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where violence between the Congolese army and M23 rebels