M23 rebels assassinate Governor Peter Chirimwam

Rebels from the Rwanda-backed M23 killed a military governor as they advanced through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reports said.

The fight between M23 and Dr Congo’s army has intensified since the start of the year, with the rebels taking control of more territory than ever before.

North Kivu Governor Peter Tsirimmeni was fatally wounded by M23 fighters when he visited the front line on Thursday, according to United Nations documents cited by Reuters and AFP news agencies.

More than 400,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of this year as the M23 advanced on the city of Goma, the UN reports.

As they moved towards Goma, M23 captured the towns of Masisi and Minowa.

More than 200 civilians have been killed in areas captured by the M23, local leaders said Thursday.

According to the United Nations, two children died after bombs fell on a camp for displaced people.

As a result of the unrest, Congolese President Felix Tshizekedi cut short his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, flying back on Thursday to hold emergency security meetings with senior officials.

The fall of Goma – a city of over a million that lies near the border with Rwanda – would be a major coup for the rebels. They briefly seized the city during a rebellion in 2012, but retreated after a deal was brokered.

Numerous roads leading into the city are already blocked, raising fears that the city’s food supply could run out.

“The city of Goma is being held in a vice. The city is suffocated. There are no more entrances. There are no more exits … in front of the BBC, it is suffering immensely,” the local union leader Bahala Shamawu Innocent.

Espoir Ngalukiye, a member of the ensemble of the opposition party Pour La Republique, is also worried about access to food.

“In Goma we are not safe for real,” said Mr Ngalukye. “No one who lives in Goma can tell you that there is no fear.”

On Thursday, rebels captured the nearby town of Sake, according to the United Nations, the United Kingdom and various other sources.

But the Congolese army said it repelled the attack over sake, which is just 20 km (12 miles) from Goma.

Residents of Sake and the wider area – many already displaced by the conflict – have fled their homes.

People flee carrying mattresses and other such essentials on their backs as dozens pile into overcrowded wooden boats.

Thousands of panicked families fled to Goma, where hospitals were overwhelmed with wounded civilians.

M23 takes control of vast swaths of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo from 2021. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced as a result.

Last year it was also feared that the rebels would seize Goma. There was a lull in late July, but heavy fighting resumed in October and worsened towards the end of the year.

Dr Congo and UN say M23 is backed by Rwanda. Rwandan authorities neither confirm nor deny this.

UN experts say Rwanda has between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers working alongside M23 in eastern DR Congo.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the current conflict risks escalating into a wider regional war.

Mr Guterres called on “all actors to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to end all forms of support to armed groups”, it said in a statement.