GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo on Friday entered the region’s second-largest city of Bukavu, local and civil society leaders said, the latest ground gained since a major escalation of their yearslong fighting with government forces.

The M23 rebels entered the city's Kazingu and Bagira zone and were advancing towards the center of the city of about 1.3 million people, according to Jean Samy, vice-president of the civil society in South Kivu. He reported gunfire in parts of the city.

Videos posted online appeared to show rebels marching toward the Bagira area. In one of the videos, a voice in the background shouted: “They are there ... there are many of them."

Hours earlier, the rebels had claimed to have seized a second airport in the region following a days-long advance, while the U.N. warned that the recent escalation of fighting with government forces has left 350,000 internally displaced people without shelter.

Local sources said M23 rebels surrounded the area around Kavumu national airport. They also recounted seeing scores of soldiers fleeing the town as the fighting raged on.

The Associated Press could not immediately confirm who was in control of the airport, which is located about 30 kilometres (18.5 miles) from the city of Bukavu, which is the capital of South Kivu province. Government officials and civil society leaders did not immediately comment.

Kavumu airport became a target after the M23 rebels seized the region’s largest city of Goma, including the international airport there, in late January. Goma is a critical trade and humanitarian hub that hosted many of the close to 6.5 million people displaced in the conflict, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on X that the rebels took over Kavumu airport and its surroundings to “eliminate the threat at the source.”

“The airport posed a danger to the civilian population,” he said.

Congo's Communication Ministry issued a statement criticizing the rebels for violating a ceasefire that regional leaders have called for. The rebels were “imposing an urban war by attacking the positions of the FARDC (Congolese military) who are keen to avoid bloodshed in Bukavu,” the ministry said.

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Asadu reported from Abuja. AP journalist Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda contributed to this report.