United Nations officials say there were dead bodies on the streets of eastern Congo’s largest city where hospitals are overwhelmed and hundreds of thousands are fleeing gunfire and shelling.

A conflict that has raged for decades reached a flashpoint this week when rebels backed by Rwanda marched on a key Congolese city in a bid to occupy territory and exploit minerals.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed 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 Associated Press reported.

M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma in the eastern DRC Monday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee in the latest in a series of advances - Anadolu Ajansı

Large crowds have attacked a number of foreign embassies and a UN building in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital Kinshasa – furious over what they say is the failure to stop a major rebel offensive. The M23 militia has now managed to capture the airport in the eastern city of Goma, where water and electricity supplies are cut off.

In the capital, Kinshasa, protesters complaining of a lack of international action attacked foreign embassies, including those of the U.S., France and Rwanda.

The Rwandan-backed M23 rebels now have full control of Goma's airport and the border with Rwanda. Civilians who fled the rebels must now contend with life under their rule.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed 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 Associated Press reported.

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Dramatic scenes unfolded in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday, February 28, as armed protesters attacked and set fire to the French and US embassies.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Clashes between the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) and the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is causing deaths, food shortages and thousands of displaced people in the city of Goma,