Death toll in Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Goma is at least 900

Fighting last week between government forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels in the major eastern city of Goma left at least 900 people dead, the UN health agency has said.

The World Health Organisation said at least 900 bodies had been recovered from the streets of Goma by last Friday after five days of fighting in which M23 rebels took control of the city.

The WHO cited nearly 2,900 injuries in the fighting. The UN and the country’s government had earlier put the provisional death toll at 773.

The M23 rebels are backed by 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first captured Goma.

They are the most potent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.