Army troops and M23 rebels clashed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, leaving at least three people dead and more than 30 wounded.
The sound of heavy and light weapons being fired was heard for much of the day in the town of Bambo, 60 kilometres north of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, witnesses told AFP.
"The army fires... and the rebels riposte," a Bambo hospital source said by telephone.
"We have taken in 38 wounded and three dead, including a child."
Power disruption
Fighting also took place on Monday and Tuesday further south towards Kibumba, just 20 kms north of Goma.
Virunga Energies, which supplies electricity to much of Goma, had on Monday evening announced a power cut due to damage caused by clashes at Kibumba between the army and rebels.
Power had been restored on Tuesday to hospitals, industrial outlets and 31,000 homes after temporary repairs, the company said.
After lying dormant for years, the Tutsi-led M23 launched an offensive in late 2021, conquering swathes of North Kivu, displacing over a million people.
Months of relative calm
After several months of relative calm, fighting intensified from early October between the rebels, the army and militias loyal to the government.
Another 200,000 people have been displaced in the region, according to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the leaders of the DRC and Rwanda to urge de-escalation.
Blinken "advocated for a diplomatic solution to the tensions between the two countries and urged each side take measures to de-escalate the situation, including removing troops from the border," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Militias have plagued the volatile region for decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
