Residents and business owners in eastern Congo’s second largest city are sitting in wait after a night of loud gunfire marking the ongoing advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.

Over 2,000 bodies require burial in Goma after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took over the Democratic of Congo city last week, inflaming a decade-old conflict and humanitarian crisis, Congo's communications minister Patrick Muyaya said late on Monday.

The M23 rebel group have captured the city of Goma in the eastern DRC in a major escalation of a drawn-out conflict.