RWANDA-backed insurgents reached the centre of Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, yesterday morning, facing little resistance from government forces in an unprecedented expansion of their control.

Scores of residents cheered the rebels as they moved through central Bukavu, 101 kilometres (63 miles) from Goma, which M23 captured late last month.

Other parts of the city remained deserted with residents indoors.

M23, one of more than 100 armed groups operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo, is reportedly supported by around 4,000 Rwandan troops, according to the United Nations.

The fighting has displaced over six million people, causing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, including at least 350,000 who fled following the fall of Goma.

It was not clear if M23 had taken full control of Bukavu, a city of about 1.3 million people.

The insurgents were stationed at the South Kivu administrative office and in several other key locations in the city.

There were no signs of fighting or of Congolese forces in most parts of Bukavu on Sunday.

Thirty-seven-year-old Blaise Byamungu, one of the residents still in Bukavu, said the rebels marched into the city “abandoned by all the authorities and without any loyalist force.”

“Is the government waiting for them to take over other towns to take action? It’s cowardice,” he said.

Thousands of civilians and many Congolese soldiers fled Bukavu on Saturday, amid widespread looting and panic.

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi held a security meeting late on Saturday, where officials claimed Bukavu had been “briefly” invaded but remained under government control with support from local militias.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned that the conflict could spiral into a regional crisis, saying: “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of [Congo] must be respected.”