Congo has severed all diplomatic ties with Rwanda and South Africa said on Saturday that nine of its peacekeepers had been killed amid a surge in fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels in mineral-rich eastern Congo.

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,

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.