U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Congo's M23 conflict risks spiralling into a broader regional war as Congolese troops battle a rebel advance near the largest eastern city and tens of thousands more people flee.

The United Nations mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) said Friday that its peacekeepers are "engaged" in "intense" fighting against Rwanda-backed M23 forces, who have almost encircled the main city in the country's east.

Fighting between M23 rebels and Democratic Republic of Congo’s army intensified on Friday with the militia threatening to take the trading hub of Goma and the United Nations warning of a regional war.

Rebels from the Rwanda-backed M23 have killed a military governor as they advanced through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the army has confirmed. Maj Gen Peter Cirimwami, North Kivu's Governor, was shot by M23 fighters when visiting the frontline on Thursday.

Authorities say the governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained in fighting on the front line as M23 rebels close in on Goma.

It is vital, and long overdue, for peace to take root in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the benefit of its people and the region,' says UNHCR spokesperson - Anadolu Ajansı

A leading bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) says the situation in the conflict-hit eastern part of the country is “catastrophic.”

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed by the worsening violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has already displaced 237,000 people this year.

Fighting between M23 rebels and Democratic Republic of Congo’s army intensified on Friday, with the militia threatening to take the trading hub of Goma and the United Nations warning of a regional war.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that eastern Congo's M23 conflict risks spiralling into a broader regional war, his spokesperson said in a statement, condemning the rebels' capture of another strategic town,

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The military governor of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo has died from injuries suffered on the frontline during an offensive by M23 rebels in the east, a government source and an internal UN report seen by Reuters confirmed on Friday.