Congolese rebels and allied Rwandan forces entered the outskirts of Goma on Sunday and the airport in the key eastern city was no longer in use, the top UN official in the country said. Thousands fled the fighting that also killed at least 13 peacekeepers.

Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo left six United Nations peacekeepers dead, UN officials said Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing towns in the Democratic Republic of Congo's east, as rebel forces close in on the city of Goma. Explosions and gunshots were heard in city - home to more than a million people - late on Sunday evening, according to local media reports.

Nine United Nations peacekeepers in eastern Congo sustained injuries during fighting with the M23 armed group, the U.N. said, as the rebels close in on Goma.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Congolese rebels said on Sunday they had taken Goma, the biggest city in the east of the mineral-rich country, after a lightning advance that has forced thousands of people to flee and fuelled concerns of a regional war.

Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma, leaving at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead and displacing thousands of civilians.

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,

Rwandan-backed fighters closed in on eastern Congo's largest city of Goma on Sunday (January 26), forcing thousands of civilians to flee and grounding flights from the local airport as government forces battled to stop the rebels seizing the city.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, early Monday, as the United Nations described a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.

Rwanda-backed rebels have claimed they captured eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, as the United Nations describe a “mass panic” among its 2 million people and Congo’s government say the rebel

M23 insurgency in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has intensified in January with the M23 rebels seizing control of more territory than ever before, prompting the U.N. to warn of the risk of a broader regional war.