The town of Masisi is located in a rich, mountainous area that extends to the capital of Goma district.
M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have seized a town in the eastern Central African country, local politicians said, adding to the militant group's operations in the region.
The group took control of Masisi, a town and regional administrative center about 80km (50 miles) from the main city of Goma, on Saturday, regional parliament member Alexis Bahunga told Reuters on Sunday.
“The government will take steps to restore government control in the entire region,” he said.
The Deputy Member of Parliament, Jean-Pierre Ayobangira Safari, said Masisi had been taken “for now”.
Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the anti-government group Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes the March 23 Movement (M23), said the rebels had reached the center of Masisi in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday.
Local sources said thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting and are now seeking shelter in neighboring areas including Goma, which already has four million displaced people, Al Jazeera's Alain Uaykani reported.
“The security situation remains critical in Masisi city a day after the insurgents captured this important area, which is the second largest (captured) from government forces,” he said in Goma.
“The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi would have confirmed that there will be no direct talks (with the group).”
The United Nations says nearly a million people fled their homes last year as a result of the conflict.
DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting M23, which Kigali denies. Inter-Angola talks between the presidents of the two countries it was abruptly terminated in mid-December on disagreements over the principles of the proposed peace agreement.
M23, which appeared more than ten years ago and has been around launching deadly attacks over the yearsthey mostly live in North Kivu province, which has a lot of resources.
Its leaders are mainly Tutsi, who say their sole purpose is to protect themselves from the Hutu-led army that fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.
Their occupation of large swaths of eastern DRC and years of insurgency have led to war. problems that have afflicted millions of people.
Masisi, with a population of about 40,000, is the administrative center of the Masisi region, which has agriculture, livestock and minerals.
His capture represents a major gain for M23 and raises the government's concerns about potential threats near political and commercial centers such as Goma and Bukavu.