AP PHOTOS: M23 Rebels Battle Congolese Soldiers M23, the eight-month-old rebel group made up of soldiers who defected from the Congolese army, has pushed beyond Goma, the bustling regional capital of eastern Congo, which fell to the fighters earlier this week. On Friday, the rebels patrolled the town of Sake, the next town on the road south from Goma. They manned checkpoints, drank vodka in local bars and let the corpses of Congolese soldiers rot in the streets. One of the soldier's bodies bore an execution-style bullet wound to the temple. Congolese women run after Congolese soldiers and rebel fighters battled for hours over the eastern Congolese town of Sake , 27 kilometers (17 miles) west of Goma, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. The woman in orange only identified as Mamou, said she lost her husband to a fatal wound to the head from incoming mortar round. Thousands fled the M23 controlled town as the militants seeking to overthrow the government vowed to push forward despite mounting international pressure. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) Close AP photojournalist Jerome Delay is in the region covering the conflict, and has been witness to tens of thousands of civilians fleeing along a stretch of road to Goma, carrying mattresses and cooking pots on their heads, as well as live chickens, goats, and babies bundled on their backs. The town of Sake was nearly deserted. A lone father returned to his empty house. He had fled on Thursday when the shooting erupted, but lost track of his four children in the scramble to get out of town. The youngest are just 2 and 4 years old, he said. Follow Delay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeromedelay