Threat Of Regional War Intensifies As DR Congo Rebels Close In On Goma

The capital of one of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s most mineral-rich regions is being “asphyxiated” as armed rebels close in on the city in a conflict that threatens to explode into a wider regional war, aid agencies and analysts have warned. As fighting between M23 rebels and DRC government forces intensified around Goma, capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, the situation had become “really catastrophic”, said Angèle Dikongué-Atangana, DRC country representative for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.