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.

There are growing international calls for peace talks to end the escalation of violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The fate of the economic and trading hub Goma is still unclear.

Residents in eastern Congo’s largest city of Goma are fleeing after Rwanda-backed rebels claimed to have captured the regional hub from Congolese forces

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Four more South African soldiers have been killed in fighting with M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government said, taking the number of South African peacekeepers killed to 13 since the conflict escalated last week. South African troops are in Congo as part of U.N. and Southern African missions.

Two U.N. peacekeepers from South Africa were killed in fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Congo, a United Nations official said Saturday. The South African peacekeepers were killed Friday, the U.N. official told The Associated Press,

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame have discussed the possibility of a ceasefire agreement in DR Congo amidst the ongoing conflict between the Congolese force and the M23 rebel group.