Thousands of people are fleeing Goma as fighting escalates in the city.
Several sites on the outskirts of the city, sheltering more than 300,000 displaced people, were completely emptied out in the space of a few hours, according to the UN.
Key roads surrounding Goma are blocked, cutting off vital access points, while the city’s airport is paralysed, halting all evacuation and humanitarian efforts, the UN says.
The situation is growing more desperate by the hour as aid and escape routes are brought to a standstill.
Since the start of 2025 more than 400,000 people have been forced from their homes in the provinces of North and South Kivu, near the border with Rwanda, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to pause its operations in Goma and the wider North Kivu region, the agency has said.
In a statement on social media platform X, the WFP said it had made the move due to the “escalation in violence”.
It added that 800,000 people in North Kivu “rely on vital food and nutrition assistance”.
The WFP will restart its operations when the situation is safe for its “communities” and staff, the statement said.
WFP operations in the rest of DR Congo will continue uninterrupted.