The governor of North Kivu province in eastern Congo has died of injuries sustained during frontline fighting, authorities said Friday, as M23 rebels closed in on the provincial capital.

M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling Goma, which has around two million people and is the regional hub of security and humanitarian efforts.

The circumstances surrounding Major General Peter Cirimwami’s death were unclear, but Cirimwami, who led military operations in restive North Kivu, visited frontline troops in Kasengezi, about 13 kilometers from Goma, on the day of his death.

His death was confirmed on Thursday by a government source, a military source and a UN source on Friday, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The governor died in hospital after sustaining injuries on the front line, they said.

Panic spread in Goma on Thursday as rebels seized control of Sake, a town just 27 kilometers from the provincial capital and one of the last major routes into the city still under government control, according to the UN chief.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups fighting for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. More than seven million people have been displaced by the fighting.

Earlier this month, M23 captured the towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi, west of Goma.

M23 captured Goma in 2012 and controlled it for more than a week.

Congo, the US and UN experts accuse Rwanda of supporting M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago.

Rwanda’s government denies the claim, but last year admitted it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to protect its security, pointing to a build-up of Congolese forces near the border. UN experts estimate that there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.

Tension, conflicts

The city of Goma was gripped by palpable tensions as clashes between Congolese armed forces and M23 raged on the outskirts of the city on Friday.

Fighting is concentrated in Kibumba, about 25 kilometers north of Goma, and around Sake, to the west. More than 178,000 people have fled off the M23 in the past two weeks.

Alliance Gentil, 25, was among dozens of displaced people en route from Sake to Goma on Friday. Sitting on her water bowl next to her belongings, with the baby on her back, she said she was tired of running away all the time.

“I’m running away, but I don’t know where I’m going,” said the mother of two children, adding that she had already run away twice in the last month.

The front line near Goma is only tens of meters away from the Lushagala and Bulengo IDP camps, fueling fear among those who have sought safety near the provincial capital.

Tens of thousands more have arrived in recent weeks in camps in and around Goma, already home to nearly 600,000 displaced people, according to the UN refugee agency.

Explosions of heavy weapons echoed in Goma on Friday. Many shops and stores remained closed, and police were deployed on the city’s main streets. Military checkpoints have been set up around the city to check all vehicles.