GOMA: Nine foreign peacekeepers were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting between the Congolese army and Rwandan-backed M23 fighters intensified on Saturday, officials said.

The dead comprised six soldiers from South Africa and three from Malawi, according to a military spokesman.

Fighting raged in the region despite calls from the international community for the Rwandanbacked M23 to halt its advance on Goma, the key city in the mineral-rich east and home to more than a million people.

A reporter saw a burned-out, smoking armoured vehicle of the UN peacelceeping force MONUSCO on the road between Goma and Sake, scene of intense fighting in recent days.

In Goma, the main city of the restive North Kivu province, artillery detonations in the distance reso-nated as far as the city centre. The European Union on Saturday urged the M23 to halt its advance.

`Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw. The EU strongly condemns Rwanda`s military presence in the DRC as a clear violation of international law, the UN charter and the territorial integrity of the DRC,` EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The African Union in a statement called for the `immediate cessation` of fighting and said it `urges the parties to preserve the lives of civilians`.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco, appointed mediator by the African Union in the crisis between Rwanda and the DRC, denounced `irresponsible actions by the M23 and its supporters` which would have `harmful consequences for regional security`.

-AFP