The M23 rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo has seized the eastern town of Minova, a main supply route for the provincial capital Goma, a local governor and a rebel leader said on Tuesday as the army reported fighting on all fronts.

The UN chief on Thursday expressed alarm over a renewed offensive by M23 rebels in recent days in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which is taking a “devastating toll” on civilians.

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga is currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) calling on South African soldiers at the same time as the United Nations (UN) has it the security situation in the country’s east is “deteriorating”.

NZULO, Congo — The M23 rebel group's advance toward eastern Congo's largest city has displaced over 178,000 people in the past two weeks, the United Nations said, as the fighters closed in on Goma on the border with Rwanda.

Authorities in eastern Congo say M23 rebels have seized the town of Minova, a key supply route for the provincial capital, Goma.

Laden with just the possessions they can carry, thousands of displaced people have reached the outskirts of the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, fleeing a rapid M23 rebel advance that has taken more territory than ever before.

The army acknowledged Tuesday a "breakthrough" by the M23 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where the armed group fighting government forces has seized a trading hub that supplies the city of Goma.

M23 rebels tightened their stranglehold over key trading routes to the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after taking more towns Monday and Tuesday, Congo’s army said.

The Congolese army says several towns that fell to armed groups in the eastern North Kivu and South Kivu provinces have been recaptured by government forces.

The M23 armed group has seized further territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and on Thursday was continuing to tighten its grip on provincial capital Goma, which is almost surrounded by fighting.

A bout 120,000 children have been forced from their homes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the start of the year as a wave of horrifying violence hits villages [1] with some children becoming separated from their parents and one town cut off, said Save the Children.

Three Chinese citizens have been sentenced to seven years in prison for the illegal exploitation of minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The court sentenced the men late Tuesday for the illegal purchase and possession of minerals in Bukavu, capital of the gold-rich South Kivu province, according to daily Le Potentiel.