Congo has severed all diplomatic ties with Rwanda and South Africa said on Saturday that nine of its peacekeepers had been killed amid a surge in fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels in mineral-rich eastern Congo.

Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,

The military governor of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has died from injuries sustained during fighting on the front line, local authorities say, as M23 rebel fighters close in on the provincial capital,

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

The military governor of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province has died from gunshot wounds suffered on the front line during an offensive by M23 rebels, the army said on Friday.