Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), told a briefing in Geneva colleagues had reported “heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets”.

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

The war for Goma was the most recent episode of combat in eastern DRC, a volatile region plagued by regional rivalries, ethnic tensions, and armed group battles for more than three decades

Kenya has announced a virtual crisis summit, but Congolese state media says President Felix Tshisekedi will not attend.

President William Ruto, in his role as chair of the East African Community (EAC), has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid the worsening conflict.

The scene is the result of the invasion of Goma on January 27th by M23, an armed group under the control of Rwanda, Congo’s neighbour, which abuts the city. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has escalated a crisis whose origins go back decades.

Jambojet, Kenya's budget airline, has suspended flights between Nairobi and Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), due to escalating conflict and the closure of Goma's airspace.

The capture of the city has cut off the supply of goods to North Kivu, an emerging market for East African Community (EAC) member states.

The rebels, which Rwanda denies supporting, have long been funded at least in part by the illicit mineral trade.

Gunfire broke out on Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city Goma after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighbouring Rwanda of sending more troops across the

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.