The besieged Congolese city of Goma was rocked by heavy artillery fire on Monday, January 27, as France warned the regional capital was on the brink of falling to militia fighters and Rwandan troops.
The M23 armed group and Rwandan soldiers entered central Goma on Sunday night, after weeks of advancing on city, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mineral-rich North Kivu province.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Rwanda-backed offensive "must stop," expressing his country's solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo "as Goma prepares to fall."
With international pressure mounting for an end to the battle for Goma, Kenya announced on Sunday that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame had agreed to attend a summit in the next two days.
M23 fighters and 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers had been laying siege to Goma for several days, according to the United Nations and security sources. The Congolese armed forces appear to have been overwhelmed by the offensive, and Uruguay's army said in a statement that some units had begun to surrender by handing over their weapons to Uruguayan UN peacekeepers in Goma.
Large explosions and gunfire were heard in central Goma on Monday morning, Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondents said.
The border between Rwanda and DRC near the Goma was also closed on Monday, a European consulate source and an aid worker at the crossing said.
Rwandan state media had earlier said buses were ready to evacuate UN staff and their families from Goma over the border.
The battle for Goma is the latest chapter of fighting in eastern DRC, a volatile area that has struggled with regional rivalries, ethnic disputes and armed militia conflicts for more than three decades.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, on Sunday, in response to the crisis, the DRC called for the United Nations to impose sanctions on neighboring Rwanda for helping the M23. "This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice," said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner. Kayikwamba called on the Security Council to impose a "total embargo on the export of all minerals labelled as Rwandan, in particular gold."
The UN Security Council issued a statement late Sunday calling for the withdrawal of aggressive "external forces," but stopped short of explicitly naming them.
Between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan soldiers arrived on Sunday to reinforce the M23 groups near Goma, UN sources told AFP.
Thirteen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating clashes, and UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Kigali to pull its armed forces out of the country.
Rwanda has rejected calls for a withdrawal. "This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda's security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda's sustained defensive posture," Rwanda's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Later on Sunday, Kenyan President William Ruto announced a summit of the East African Community regional bloc with the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC for talks over the crisis. Both the DRC and Rwanda have withdrawn their diplomats from each other's capitals in a breakdown of relations.
After peace talks between Kagame and Tshisekedi were cancelled in mid-December, the M23 quickly advanced towards Goma. The strategic city is home to more than a million residents and nearly as many displaced people. As the fighting drew closer, new columns of displaced people arrived in the city.
A UN experts' report said Kigali was using the M23 to secure access to the DRC's mineral wealth, exporting it abroad for its own gain.
Rwanda's ambassador to the UN, Ernest Rwamucyo, hqd rejected the DRC's accusations, blaming Kinshasa for the deteriorating situation.
Goma was briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23, or March 23 Movement, but the group withdrew after a deal. It was militarily defeated by DRC forces and the UN in 2013 but regrouped several years later. Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared and broken in the region. The last ceasefire was signed at the end of July.
The United States, France, the UK and Germany have called on their citizens to leave Goma.