Nearly three thousand people have been killed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations, after the provincial capital was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army.

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

The Rwanda-backed rebels who seized eastern Congo's key city of Goma announced a unilateral ceasefire in the region Monday for humanitarian reasons, following calls for a safe corridor for aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations spokesperson has said.

Footage from the jailbreak shows people fleeing from the building as black smoke rises into the air More than 100 female prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma,

Hundreds of Congolese women were raped and burnt alive after Rwandan-backed militants raided a prison. The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak,