Fighting between M23 rebels and pro-government armed groups in eastern DR Congo moved closer to Goma on Tuesday, with sources reporting exchanges of fire within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the city.
The M23, which has captured swathes of territory in North Kivu province since 2021, is one of several militias holding sway over much of the region despite the presence of peacekeepers.
The conflict has recently intensified around Goma, North Kivu's capital and home to over a million people, with M23 rebels and armed groups loyal to the government breaking a precarious truce.
"There has been fighting in Kibumba since this morning," a security source who requested anonymity told AFP.
"The rebels are clashing with the wazalendo (groups loyal to the government). The M23 has just fired two bombs at us and we are retaliating", the source added.
Nearly 200,000 people flee their homes
Officially, the army is respecting the ceasefire, but witnesses say soldiers and the pro-government loyalists are fighting together against the M23.
"The situation is getting worse and worse. Both sides are exchanging heavy weapons fire," a resident said. "We're having to flee."
In a report late Monday, UN humanitarian agency OCHA said almost 200,000 people have had to flee their homes since October 1 in Rutshuru and Masisi territory, north of Goma.
The fighting, which is also affecting Nyiragongo territory closer to Goma, has claimed dozens of lives in recent weeks.
Independent UN experts, the Kinshasa government and several Western nations including the United States and France accuse Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led M23 – which Kigali denies.
Regional peacekeeping mission
In May the DRC accused its neighbour and the M23 of planning an attack on Goma, which borders Rwanda.
Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya on Monday spoke of "yet another incursion" by the Rwandan army into the DRC's territory last week, with "around 50" civilians killed by M23 rebels.
An M23 spokesperson denied this on Tuesday.
An East African Community force has been deployed since the end of last year, but, like the UN force in the DRC, it has faced heavy criticism from Kinshasa for failing to stop the violence.
