Advances being made by the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo are "heightening the threat of a regional war," according to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The DR Congo army and M23 on Friday clashed outside Goma as the UK, US and France urged citizens to leave the main city in DR Congo’s volatile east, warning the situation could deteriorate rapidly

M23 rebels made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling Goma, which is home to around two million people.

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.

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.

The governor of eastern Congo’s North-Kivu province has died from injuries sustained during fighting on the front line, authorities said Friday, as M23 rebels closed in on the provincial capital.

Panic engulfed Goma as M23 rebels advanced steadily towards the city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, clashing with the national army on Thursday.

Many Congolese see the rebel advance as an invasion of their country by a foreign power in an attempt to seize land and Congo’s valuable rare minerals.

Democratic Republic of Congo has launched a probe into the embezzlement of over $300 million from state miner Gecamines between 2012 and 2020, the justice ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Amnesty International has accused Congo’s army and a rebel group of bombing densely populated areas in attacks that “likely constitute war crimes.”

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

Panic spread in Goma on Thursday, with M23 rebels steadily inching closer to the city in eastern Congo as they battle the Congolese army. Bombs were heard going off in the distant outskirts and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought in to the main hospital from nearby towns and villages.