Hundreds of civilians fled a town near the major eastern Congo city of Goma on Thursday after heavy gunfire that raised fears of M23 rebels advancing into the area.
Families lugging their belongings walked along a 15-kilometre (9-mile) stretch of road linking the town of Sake with Goma, which the M23 briefly overran during their last major insurrection in 2012.
"We heard several gunshots and even heavy weapons being fired, then we were told the M23 overran the FARDC (Congolese armed forces) to enter Sake. This is why I fled," said Jeremy Posho, carrying his 11-year-old daughter.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify whether military forces in Sake had been overrun.
Two Congo army spokespeople and the M23 did not respond to requests for comment. According to Kivu Security Tracker, which maps unrest in eastern Congo, the army and the M23 have been clashing north of Sake since Monday.
The Tutsi-led M23 staged a major comeback last year after they were chased into neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda in 2013. The fighting has uprooted tens of thousands of civilians in Congo's restive east despite military efforts to push back M23.
Battles broke out in November around Kibumba, an area 20 kilometres north of Goma that rebels were meant to have left a month later as part of a ceasefire brokered by East African regional leaders.
But there has been evidence of M23 movements in places from which they were meant to withdraw as well as signs of advances in other areas, suggesting the offensive is ongoing. The group has denied this.
"I fled because I saw other people leaving," Sake resident Ismail Muhima told Reuters, adding he also heard shots. "The FARDC were not telling us anything and people started leaving so that's why I also fled, because we know the enemy is close."
(Reporting by Djaffar Al Katanty and Sonia Rolley; writing by Sofia Christensen; editing by Mark Heinrich)
