Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital and seek to gain political power.

After three years on the run from the Rwandan-backed M23 insurgency in eastern Congo, on Sunday, with the rebels fighting their way into Goma's city outskirts, Colleta Nzambonimpa found herself in church with nowhere left to turn.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.