Tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo are fleeing towns in the east of the country 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,

Britain, the EU, and the United Nations have piled pressure on the African nation over its backing of the M23 rebels

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.

Thirteen soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been killed in clashes with rebels from the M23 group. The South African military said nine of its soldiers died helping to push back a rebel advance on the city of Goma,