There are reports from some parts of the city suggesting the M23 is meeting with resistance from the Wazalendo rebels allied with the Congolese army.

Kenyan President William Ruto said Monday that the presidents of Rwanda and Congo have agreed to attend a meeting Wednesday to discuss developments in eastern Congo, where M23 rebels say they have seized control of Goma on the Congo-Rwandan border.

A rebel alliance spearheaded by the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 militia said it had seized the lakeside city of more than 2 million people.

M23 forces were advancing south from the town of Minova, along the western side of Lake Kivu, according to five diplomatic and security sources, one of whom was in direct contact with the rebels. Any successful push south by M23 would see them control territory that previous rebellions have not held since the end of Congo's major war two decades ago,

There are growing international calls for peace talks to end the escalation of violence in the east of the democratic republic of congo. The fate of the economic and trading hub Goma is still unclear.

By Yassin Kombi and Sonia Rolley GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Rwandan-backed M23 rebels appeared to have consolidated their control over Goma, with eastern Congo's largest city mostly quiet on Wednesday apart from sporadic gunfire in some outlying districts,

M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, have taken control of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, causing tens of thousands of people to flee. Goma lies on the border with Rwanda, at the nexus of trade routes for natural resources.