Congo has severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda as fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and government forces rages around the key eastern city of Goma.

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.

Many Congolese see the rebel advance as an invasion of their country by a foreign power in an attempt to seize land and Congo’s valuable rare minerals.