The M23 rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo has seized the eastern town of Minova, a main supply route for the provincial capital Goma, a local governor and a rebel leader said on Tuesday as the army reported fighting on all fronts.

NZULO, Congo -- The M23 rebel group's advance toward eastern Congo's largest city has displaced over 178,000 people in the past two weeks, the United Nations said, as the fighters closed in on Goma on the border with Rwanda.

M23 rebels have captured Minova, a key eastern DR Congo town and supply route to Goma, the mining towns of Lumbishi, Numbi, and Shanje, and the North Kivu town of Bweremana. While the DRC army acknowledged the group’s advances in Minova and Bweremana,