Three South African peacekeepers have been killed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting intensified on Saturday between the Congolese army and Rwandan-backed M23 fighters, a political party said.
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Fighting raged in the region despite calls from the international community for the M23 to halt its advance on Goma, a vital city in the east and home to over a million people.
After the failure of Angolan-led peace talks, the M23 and the Rwandan army have advanced in recent weeks towards Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province in DR Congo’s perennially restive and mineral-rich east.
A journalist saw a burned-out, smoking armoured vehicle of the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO on the road between Goma and Sake, a site of intense fighting in recent days.
Shops were open in Goma on Saturday and day-to-day activity appeared normal despite artillery detonations in the distance that resonated as far as the city centre.
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Intense fighting has been raging since Thursday on several fronts less than 10 kilometres around the city.