La Domenica Del Corriere - DR Congo battles intensify, Western nations ask citizens to leave Goma

Since peace talks failed, M23 fighters backed by Rwandan troops have gained swathes of territory in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, triggering a humanitarian crisis and ringing the provincial capital, which is home to a million people.

The United States, Britain and France called on nationals to leave Goma while airports and borders are still open, in online statements or in messages sent directly by email or SMS.

The UN warned the raging conflict in the North Kivu province had displaced over 400,000 people this year and could spark a regional war.

"The number of displacements is now over 400,000 people this year alone, almost double the number reported last week," Matthew Saltmarsh, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Saltmarsh said the UNHCR is "gravely concerned about the safety and security of civilians and internally displaced people (IDP)", in the east.

"Heavy bombardments caused families from at least nine displacement sites on the periphery of Goma to flee into the city to seek safety and shelter," he said, adding that many were living rough.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was "alarmed by the resumption of hostilities", his spokesman said in a statement.

"This offensive has a devastating toll on the civilian population and heightened the risk of a broader regional war," the statement added, demanding the violence "immediately cease."

Clashes erupted early Friday just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Goma.

"We are exchanging fire with the enemy on the Kanyamahoro-Kibumba axis, it is violent," a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The M23 was also present in the town of Sake on Friday, according to a military source. Sake, about 20 kilometres west of Goma, witnessed intense fighting the previous day.

Congolese army helicopters headed towards Sake Friday morning, with explosions heard in western districts of the town, although it was not clear how intense the fighting was.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi is due to hold a defence council meeting during the day, following a crisis meeting on Thursday.

The military governor of North Kivu, General Peter Cirimwami, died Friday morning, according to military and UN sources.

He had been shot Thursday near the frontline.

- Civilians fleeing on foot -

The Congolese army on Thursday deployed helicopter gunships which fired volleys of rockets towards the frontline in a bid to halt the M23 fighters advancing on Goma.

At least a dozen armoured personnel carriers from the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) were seen heading west from Goma.

Armoured vehicles from the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC, there to support the Congolese army, were also seen transporting guns towards Sake.

Medical teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross treated more than 70 wounded people at the hospital in Goma on Thursday.

Civilians have been fleeing the fighting since Thursday, travelling on foot to the centre of Goma.

Goma is at the epicentre of the violence that has rocked eastern DRC for 30 years.

The M23 -- March 23 Movement -- briefly occupied the city at the end of 2012.

But the Congolese army, with the support of the UN mission in the DRC and diplomatic pressure from the international community on Rwanda, recaptured the city shortly after.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have so fair failed.

In December, a meeting between Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame as part of an Angola-led peace process was cancelled due to lack of agreement.

Turkey, very active on the African continent, offered on Thursday to lead a DRC-Rwanda mediation.

A half-dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared in the region, then broken, with the last ceasefire signed at the end of July.

F.Abate--LDdC