25/08/13 BBC: UK government staff withdraw from DRC city of Goma

UN troops in the country
have launched an offensive, shelling positions held by rebels near Goma.

The UN was responding to
shelling from M23 rebels on Goma on Thursday, a spokesman said.

The Foreign Office said it
would review the situation on Sunday.

A "small number"
of staff were affected, it added.

It has also updated its travel advice, advising against all travel to
some parts of the country.

UK Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, tweeted: "Very concerned by reports of
shelling in #Goma and upstart of violence. Vital that tensions are reduced
quickly."

Congolese officials said
five civilians in the city died in the shelling on Friday.

An M23 spokesman told the
BBC it had not attacked the city, blaming the army for provoking the fighting.

A new UN intervention
brigade is deploying to the area to tackle rebels. It has a mandate to
neutralise and disarm rebel fighters.

Its 3,000 soldiers are
joining the regular UN peacekeeping force, Monusco, which has more than 18,000
troops on the ground with a mandate to protect civilians.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied UN
allegations that it has been backing the M23 rebels.

Like Rwanda's
leadership, M23 fighters mostly come from the Tutsi community.

They deserted from the
Congolese army in April 2012, forcing an estimated 800,000 people from their
homes in the ensuing unrest in the mineral-rich region.

Peace talks taking place in
Uganda
this year to resolve their grievances have stalled.