Authorities say the governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained in fighting on the front line as M23 rebels close in on Goma.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

Strewn with rubble from mortar and artillery fire, the eastern DR Congo city of Goma awoke on Thursday to a new abnormal -- hiding from bandits and counting the dead.

Residents of the besieged city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, say they are gripped by fear as gunshots continue to ring out around their homes, days after rebel forces claimed they had taken over.

Recent clashes between government forces and M23 have forced thousands of residents to flee provincial capital Goma - Anadolu Ajansı

The March 23 Movement (M23) armed group on Thursday announced its willingness to dialogue with the government of the Democratic

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels behind escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week

M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma in the eastern DRC Monday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee in the latest in a series of advances - Anadolu Ajansı

No fewer than 100 people have been killed in clashes between the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 fighters supported by Rwandan soldiers.

A group of Romanian citizens stranded in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo due to military conflict has been successfully evacuated from the country, but not before some of them were filmed being threatened by the advancing rebels.

The United Nations said Thursday it was concerned by “credible reports” that the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 was advancing south in the Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.