Congolese authorities have blocked access to the airport in Goma, a provincial capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and cancelled flights as Rwandan-backed rebels advance on the city, three officials told Reuters on Sunday.
The airport had not officially been closed, the sources said, but passengers who were already on site were being urged to return home, while the United Nations on Sunday told staff not to go to the airport and to shelter in place.
Rebels said in a statement on Sunday that the airspace over Goma is now closed.
The three-year insurgency by the rebel group M23 has intensified in January with the rebels seizing control of more of the central African country’s territory than ever before, and the UN warning the violence could spill into a wider regional war.
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The UN Security Council will meet on Sunday to discuss the crisis – a day earlier than planned – diplomats said.
Malawi and Uruguay said four of their troops, who were members of the UN peacekeeping mission Monusco, were killed in clashes, bringing the death toll among UN peacekeepers to 13.
The UN in Malawi said in a post on X on Saturday evening that three Malawian soldiers with the mission in Congo were killed, without giving any further details.
Uruguay's army announced the death of one of its troops in a statement on Saturday, adding that two others had been injured.
Earlier on Saturday, South Africa said that nine of its citizens had been killed in the fighting, including two from Monusco, and seven from a separate, southern African mission.
Monusco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Congo, the UN and others accuse neighbouring Rwanda of fuelling the conflict with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this, but Congo’s army said on Saturday that Rwandan snipers were responsible for the killing of North Kivu’s military governor on the front line on Friday.
A spokesperson for Rwanda’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hundreds of displaced people have fled to the provincial capital Goma. Gunfire could be heard early on Sunday morning, leading to panic in some areas.
“Rwanda is trying to get in by all means, but we are holding firm,” a military source told Reuters, noting that rebels had destroyed equipment near the village of Kilimanyoka, about 20 kilometres from Goma.
