Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,

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.

The ongoing conflict in Congo’s east involving the rebel group M23 poses a risk of escalating into a wider regional war, warns U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Accusations fly between Congo and Rwanda as the situation worsens,