Fierce fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than half a million people, the country's foreign minister told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

In recent weeks, the armed conflict in the DRC 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 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

Tensions are running high in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as fighting between the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group and the DRC army continues in the eastern city of Goma, while civilian protests intensify in the capital,

The area was also the epicentre of an outbreak of a new strain of mpox, declared a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024. Dr. Marschang warned that the new wave of displacement will make it increasingly hard to track and treat the disease.

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.

Authorities in eastern Congo say M23 rebels have seized the town of Minova, a key supply route for the provincial capital, Goma.

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

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.

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.