GOMA, Congo >> Congolese security forces on Tuesday tried to slow the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who say they have captured Goma after entering eastern Congo’s largest city, as U.N. officials reported violence, looting and bodies in the streets.

The officials said hospitals are overwhelmed in Goma, a regional trade and humanitarian hub that is now a refuge for hundreds of thousands fleeing gunfire and shelling in the major escalation of one of Africa’s longest conflicts. The violence echoed far from Goma as protesters in the country’s capital attacked at least 10 embassies, including those of France and the U.S., which urged citizens to leave the city.

Congo’s Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the protesters’ damage to embassies were “sincerely regrettable incidents.”

The M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the conflict-battered North Kivu province — which includes Goma — rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology.

Reports of rapes, looting

There were reports of gender-based violence and rape committed by fighters, looting of property, including a humanitarian warehouse, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit in the city, U.N. humanitarian affairs office spokesman Jens Laerke said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

“The humanitarian situation in and around Goma remains extremely worrying, and this morning (there were) heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets,” said Laerke, adding that hospitals are “struggling to manage the influx of wounded people.”

“What we want is this war to come to an end,” said Christian Bahati, a Congolese teacher among hundreds now sheltering in the Rwandan town of Gisenyi. “You can see the level of frustration. Congolese people are victims, but now they find themselves seeking refuge from the aggressor.”

Dozens of demonstrators, meanwhile, looted and set fires to parts of at least 10 foreign embassy buildings far off in the capital, Kinshasa, including those of Rwanda, U.S., France, Belgium and Kenya.

The protesters demanded that the international community condemn Rwanda over its role in the conflict. “We denounce the hypocrisy of the international community,” said Timothée Tshishimbi, one of the protesters. “They must tell Rwanda to stop this adventure.”

It was unclear how much of Goma is controlled by the M23 rebels, though analysts say they are more emboldened than in 2012 when they temporarily took over the city before being forced to pull out under international pressure.