The M23 rebels announced the capture of Goma in a statement minutes before a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons expired.

In the last 48 hours, two U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa and one from Uruguay were killed and 11 peacekeepers were injured and hospitalized.

Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,