After 3 UN peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo, Guterres emphasised that attacks against UN staff may constitute a war crime United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on Sunday on Rwandan forces to withdraw from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and halt support for fighters advancing on the key Congolese city of Goma.

M23 rebels, reportedly backed by Rwanda, claimed control of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, early Monday. This development comes as the Congolese government cut diplomatic ties with Rwanda, with Congolese spokesman Patrick Muyaya calling the situation a "declaration of war.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Rwandan-backed rebels marched into east Congo's largest city Goma on Monday and troops from the east African neighbours exchanged fire over the border in the worst escalation of the long-running conflict for more than a decade.

Gunshots rang out Sunday night in the centre of the besieged Congolese city of Goma, AFP journalists heard, after the Democratic Republic of Congo accused Rwanda of sending fresh troops across the border to capture the strategic hub.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called on Rwandan forces to withdraw from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and halt support for M23 fighters advancing on the key city of Goma ...

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on M23 to immediately halt all hostile action and withdraw its forces, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said. The international airport in Goma was ...

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, called on Sunday on Rwandan forces to withdraw from Congo and halt support for fighters advancing on the key Congolese city of Goma.

The DR Congo army and M23 fighters clashed outside Goma on Friday as the UK, United States and France urged citizens to leave the main city in the country's volatile east, warning the situation could deteriorate rapidly.

The Democratic Republic of Congo withdrew its diplomats from Kigali as the Rwanda-backed M23 fighters advanced on the key city of Goma in the east of the country. - More than a hundred wounded - The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) said its Quick Reaction Forces had "been actively engaged in intense combat" with its heavy artillery firing against M23 positions.

( MENAFN - IANS) Kinshasa, Jan 30 (IANS) Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), promised a "vigorous response" to advances of March 23 Movement (M23) rebels in the eastern DRC, amid peace efforts by regional groups.

The United Nations is "deeply concerned" by the M23 rebel group advancing towards South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said.