Rebels close in on eastern DR Congo’s largest city as army battles to halt advance
Rwanda-backed fighters advance on provincial capital Goma after capturing several towns, with 400,000 people already displaced this year
Panic spread in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city, with M23 rebels steadily inching closer to Goma and seizing a nearby town as they battled the Congolese army.
Bombs were heard going off in the city’s distant outskirts and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought to the main hospital from the area of the fighting.
The rebel group has advanced significantly in recent weeks, closing in on Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
On Thursday, the rebels took Sake, a town 27km (16 miles) from Goma and one of the last main routes into the provincial capital still under government control, according to the UN chief.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.