Heavy artillery fire rocked the eastern Congolese city of Goma on Monday as France warned the capital of the mineral-rich region was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and Rwandan troops. Repeated explosions from heavy artillery and intense bursts of gunfire echoed across central Goma on Monday,

M23 rebels said they have advanced into Goma, a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced.

Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,