In recent weeks, the armed conflict between the M23/AFC and the Congolese army, backed by their allies, has flared up again in the province of North Kivu and spread to the neighbouring province of South Kivu.

M23 rebels said they have advanced into Goma, a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced.

The UN is temporarily relocating non-essential staff from Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Saturday without interrupting its operations in the country at a time heightened security concerns.

“The Secretary-General has called for all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law. This must be upheld to prevent further suffering,” a UNHCR representative said. Image Credit:

North Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma.

Press Release - In recent weeks, the armed conflict between the M23/AFC and the Congolese army, backed by their allies, has flared up again in the province of North Kivu and spread to the neighbouring province of South Kivu.

"It was a terrible night," local sources told Fides from Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was conquered today, January 27, by the rebels of the M23 movement.

The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo is prey to various and varied conflicts, particularly the M23 war with identity crisis implications in North Kivu; the catastrophic campaign to uproot the Tutsi Banyamulenge in South Kivu;

Corneille Nangaa orchestrated the heavily criticised vote that handed President Felix Tshisekedi power. Today, he is the public face of a sprawling coalition of Congolese politicians and rebel groups fighting to oust him.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

The M23 militia, funded and directed by Rwanda, said it had seized the city of Goma, terrifying its people, many of whom sought shelter there after fleeing the rebel advance.