International peacekeepers killed as fighting rages around eastern Congo's key city

GOMA, Congo — Fighting with M23 rebels in eastern Congo has left at least 13 peacekeepers and foreign soldiers dead, United Nations and army officials said Saturday.

M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling the eastern city of Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

The U.N. Security Council moved up an emergency meeting on the escalating violence to Sunday morning (10 am EST). Congo requested the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for Monday.

On Saturday, Congo's army said it fended off an M23 offensive towards Goma with the help of its allied forces, including U.N. troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.

''The Rwandan-backed M23 is clearly exploiting the presidential transition in the U.S. to advance on Goma — putting thousands more civilians at risk,'' Kate Hixon, advocacy director for Africa at Amnesty International US, told the Associated Press.

Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago.

Rwanda's government denies the claim, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.

The burning wreckage of a white armored fighting vehicle carrying UN markings could be seen on a road between Goma and Sake on Saturday, where much of the fighting was concentrated in recent days.

Two South African peacekeepers were killed Friday, while a Uruguayan Blue Helmet was killed Saturday, a U.N. official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the matter publicly.

Additionally, three Malawian peacekeepers were killed in eastern Congo, the United Nations in Malawi said Saturday.

Seven South African soldiers from the SAMIDRC were also killed during clashes with M23 over the last two days, South Africa's department of defense said in a statement.

Uruguay's military in a statement issued Saturday identified its member killed in Congo as Rodolfo Álvarez, who was part of the Uruguay IV Battalion. The unit, according to the statement, is working ''uninterruptedly to comply with the United Nations mandate, as well as to guarantee the evacuation of non-essential civilian and military personnel from the city of Goma.''

''Various measures have been taken to improve the security of our troops, who are operating in adverse conditions,'' the military said. It added that four Uruguayan peacekeepers were also injured. Three of them remained in Goma while a fourth one was evacuated to Uganda for treatment.

Since 2021, Congo's government and allied forces, including SAMIDRC and U.N. troops, have been keeping M23 away from Goma.

The U.N peacekeeping force, also known as MONUSCO, entered Congo more than two decades ago and has around 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.

South Africa's defense minister, Angie Motshekga, was visiting the country's troops stationed in Congo as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission the day the soldiers were killed.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.