Thirteen peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been killed in clashes with the M23 rebel group.
South Africa’s military said nine soldiers, three Malawians and one Uruguayan were also killed helping push back a rebel advance on the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had met with the leaders of both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda amid growing calls for an end to violence worldwide.
As fighting intensifies, the United Nations is evacuating all non-essential personnel from Goma, a city of more than 1 million people.
A UN Security Council meeting on the deadly clashes was originally scheduled for Monday but was moved to Sunday due to the escalation of the conflict.
The M23 group called on Congolese troops in Goma to surrender to avoid bloodshed. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has severed diplomatic relations with neighboring Rwanda, accusing it of being behind the rebellion.
The move came after an M23 fighter jet killed the Congolese military governor on a visit to the front lines on Thursday. In early January they captured the important towns of Minova and Masisi in eastern Congo.
Macron called separately on Saturday to the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, calling for an end to the fighting, his office said.
According to AFP, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Karas urged a halt to the M23 advance and condemned Rwanda’s support for the group.
Angola’s President João Lourenco, the African Union’s mediator between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also condemned “irresponsible actions by M23 and its supporters,” according to AFP news agency. The news agency called for an “immediate halt” to the fighting to save lives.
Fighting between M23 and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military has intensified since the beginning of the year, with the rebels controlling more territory than ever before.
The conflict has already forced more than 400,000 people from their homes this year, according to the United Nations.
Local leaders announced last week that more than 200 civilians had been killed in areas taken by M23 and that hundreds of patients were being treated in Goma hospitals.
Martin Gordon, the Anglican bishop of Goma, told the BBC that the fighting in the country had been “too long” and people “will do anything for peace”.
In recent days, several countries, including Britain, France, Germany and the United States, have called on their nationals to leave Goma.
Human Rights Watch has warned that the danger to civilians is increasing as Congo’s army battles the M23 rebel group. Humanitarian organizations accused both sides of serious abuses against civilians.
The United Nations has warned that the ongoing conflict is exacerbating the region’s humanitarian crisis.
Since 2021, M23 has controlled large swaths of the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations say M23 is supported by Rwanda. Rwandan authorities have neither confirmed nor denied this.
Rwanda has previously announced that authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are collaborating with some of those responsible for the 1994 genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.
M23 was formed in 2012 as a separate rebel faction, ostensibly to protect the Tutsi population in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, who had long complained of persecution and discrimination.
But Rwanda’s critics accuse it of using the M23 to plunder minerals such as gold, cobalt and tantalum in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
