Nearly 3,000 people were killed over the last week as rebels captured a key city in one of the deadliest battles in the Central African country in decades.

Rebels in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, began a ceasefire on Tuesday and people rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week's battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who captured Goma declared a ceasefire on Monday and largely upheld it,

A rebel group that claimed to have captured the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fighting with the Congolese military has left hundreds of people dead.

Rebels occupying the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma have declared a cease-fire but the government dismissed the pause in the fighting as a ruse aimed to head off growing international concern.

Congo’s government has described the unilateral ceasefire declared by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo as “false communication,” while the United Nations on Tuesday noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in the region.

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels last week captured regional capital Goma in an anarchic and mineral-rich part of Democratic Republic of Congo.