The security situation in the city of Goma is deteriorating, and journalists can no longer report, the media has been forced into silence, there is no stable access to electricity or the internet. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urgently alerting the international community to this crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and calling on the parties involved in conflict to respect and protect the public’s right to information.

An influx of wounded people is arriving at Kyeshero hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in the hospital are treating people through the armed clashes and insecurity that have hit the city in recent days.

Kigali’s support of former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila could complicate peace talks, while Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, is under siege by the M23.

"In Goma there are 2 million people in need," local Church sources, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told Fides. "At least a million of them are displaced from other areas of North Kivu previously affected by the war.

East African leaders are planning a presidential summit to try to resolve the crisis. Kenyan President Ruto announced that both Kagame and Tshisekedi had agreed to attend the talks.

Thousands fled the city of Goma on Monday as fighting raged between Congolese forces and rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda, who claimed to have captured eastern Congo’s largest regional hub.

New governor appointed after former governor Maj. Gen. Peter Cirimwami was killed in fighting against M23 rebels - Anadolu Ajansı

The ICRC has treated more than 600 wounded and injured people since the start of January, of which around half were civilians. A large number of these civilians were women and children.

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.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

As M23 rebels entered the city of Goma in DRC, Bishop Willy Ngumbi expressed being "sickened" by the deaths of newborns following the bombing of the neonatal ward at the General Hospital.