Authorities say the governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained in fighting on the front line as M23 rebels close in on Goma.

The military governor of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province has died from gunshot wounds suffered on the front line during an offensive by M23 rebels, the army said on Friday.

An insurgency led by the M23 rebels in the east Democratic Republic of Congo has escalated and they have taken control of the key eastern city of Goma.

Recent clashes between government forces and M23 have forced thousands of residents to flee provincial capital Goma - Anadolu Ajansı

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.

Rwandan-backed rebels marched into east Congo's largest city Goma on Monday and Congolese troops exchanged fire with the Rwandan military across the border, in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict for more than a decade.

The UN mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, is relocating administrative staff and others in North Kivu that can continue performing their duties from elsewhere in response to the deteriorating security situation and intensifying hostilities involving the non-State armed group M23, a Rwandan-backed movement fighting against the Congolese Government.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The military governor of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo has died from injuries suffered on the frontline during an offensive by M23 rebels in the east, a government source and an internal UN report seen by Reuters confirmed on Friday.

M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were reported to have taken the key eastern city of Goma in fierce fighting with government forces that sent streams of refugees fleeing area communities.

North Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Congolese rebels said on Sunday they had taken Goma, the biggest city in the east of the mineral-rich country, after a lightning advance that has forced thousands of people to flee and fuelled concerns of a regional war.