Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, early Monday, as the United Nations described a mass panic among its 2 million people and Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.

The M23 militia, funded and directed by Rwanda, said it took the city of Goma, terrifying its people, many of whom sought shelter there after fleeing the rebel advance.

Rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo are closing in on a key city in the mineral-rich region aided by neighboring Rwanda’s army, the head of a peacekeeping mission told United Nations Security Council members during an emergency meeting on Sunday.