Sawt Falasteen - Gunfire in DR Congo's Goma as Kenya pushes peace talks

With international pressure mounting for an end to the battle for Goma, Kenya announced on Sunday that DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame had agreed to attend a summit in the next two days.

After Sunday nightfall, large explosions were heard across the main city of the mineral-rich North Kivu province, AFP correspondents said. Fighters from the M23 backed by Rwandan troops have been locked in fighting with the Congolese army and UN peacekeepers on Goma's outskirts for several days.

By midnight, Goma had fallen quiet though it was still unclear whether the M23 had advanced far into the city.

The battle over Goma was the latest chapter of fighting in eastern DRC, a volatile area that has struggled with regional rivalries, ethnic disputes and armed militia conflicts for more than three decades.

Accusing Rwanda of issuing a "declaration of war" by sending more troops over the border, the DRC called for the United Nations to impose sanctions on its neighbour for helping the M23.

Already backed by several thousand Rwandan soldiers, the M23 has in recent days advanced rapidly against Congolese troops defending the city.

Around a dozen foreign peacekeepers have been killed in the escalating clashes, and UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Kigali to pull its armed forces out of the country -- a call rejected by Rwanda.

In a statement Sunday, Rwanda's foreign ministry said it had to have a "sustained defensive posture" because of the fighting near its border with DR Congo.

But Kenyan President William Ruto later on Sunday announced a summit of the East African Community regional bloc with the leaders of Rwanda and the DR Congo for talks over the crisis.

The talks would "deliberate on this crisis and chart a way forward", Ruto said in a statement.

- A 'frontal assault' -

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council earlier on Sunday in response to the crisis, Kinshasa's top diplomat warned more Rwandan troops were crossing the border "in an open and deliberate violation" of sovereignty.

"This is a frontal assault, a declaration of war that no longer hides behind diplomatic artifice," said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.

Between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan soldiers arrived on Sunday to reinforce the M23 near Goma, UN sources told AFP.

Kayikwamba Wagner urged the UN Security Council -- the only UN institution with the power to impose binding resolutions on members -- to seek targeted sanctions on Rwandan officials.

Rwanda rejected those calls for a withdrawal.

"This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda's security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda's sustained defensive posture," said the statement.

- Diplomats withdrawn -

Both the DRC and Rwanda have withdrawn their diplomats from each other's capitals in a breakdown of relations.

After peace talks between Kagame and Tshisekedi were cancelled in mid-December, the M23 quickly advanced towards Goma, home to more than a million residents and nearly as many displaced people.

Until now the UN Security Council as a whole has never named Rwanda as a party in the conflict.

But a UN experts' report said Kigali was using the M23 to secure access to the DRC's mineral wealth, exporting it abroad for its own gain. It said around 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan troops were backing the M23.

Rwanda's ambassador to the UN, Ernest Rwamucyo, rejected DRC's accusations, blaming Kinshasa for the deteriorating situation.

Goma was briefly occupied at the end of 2012 by the M23, or March 23 Movement, but the group withdrew after a deal.

It was militarily defeated by DRC forces and the UN in 2013 but regrouped several years later.

Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have already been declared and broken in the region. The last ceasefire was signed at the end of July.

On Saturday, three countries announced the deaths of a total of 13 soldiers serving as peacekeepers in the conflict zone. The dead included members of the UN force, known as MONUSCO, as well as a southern African regional peacekeeping mission.

Nine of the victims were from South Africa, another three were Malawian and the last one was from Uruguay.

J.Saleh--SF-PST