Nearly three thousand people have been killed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations, after the provincial capital was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern.