The Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a major Congo city declare a unilateral ceasefire

The rebels were then reported to be advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu, while vowing to continue to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, a thousand miles away.

"It must be made clear that we have no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas. However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions," M23 rebel spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Congo's government. The announcement came ahead of a joint summit this week by the regional blocs of southern and eastern Africa, which have called for a ceasefire. Kenya's President William Ruto said Monday the presidents of Congo and Rwanda would attend.

The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, far more than in 2012 when they first briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. They are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo's east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world's technology.

The latest fighting forced hundreds of thousands of people who had been displaced by years of conflict to carry what remained of their belongings and flee again. Thousands poured into nearby Rwanda, which has denied supporting the M23.

The fighting in Congo has connections with a decadeslong ethnic conflict.

M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda.

Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group. Rwanda said the group is "fully integrated" into the Congolese military, which denies the charges.

On Monday, families desperate to identify their loved ones besieged morgues as body bags were loaded onto trucks for burials in Goma.

A weeping Chiza Nyenyezi recalled how her son died from a gunshot injury.

"A muzalendo shot him in the back (and) it went out of his chest," Nyenyezi said, referring to the Congolese army-allied militia group. "His entire chest was open."

Louise Shalukoma said her son's body could not be immediately recovered from the streets because a bomb detonated as people tried to retrieve it.

"My God, my fourth child, when I saw that he was dead I said, 'Lord, what am I going to do?'" she lamented. "This M23 war came for me in Goma."