AUDIO: Karl Steinacker, a UNHCR coordinator in Goma, speaks about the worsening situation in the city.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) gather outside of the provincial capital of Goma.

On the fourth day of fighting, rockets and bombs flew overhead in eastern Congo as rebels prepared to overtake the city of Goma. In a new development today, rebels declared a cease-fire in Goma, citing worry over panic.

Earlier, the 17,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUC, bombed rebel forces north of Goma, but failed to stop the rebel advance and are now retreating.

The conflict has created a humanitarian catastrophe with estimates of up to 45,000 refugees fleeing IDP camps and pouring into Goma. The top UN envoy to Congo has said the peacekeeping force is overstretched, and the Congolese army has also retreated from Goma.

An American living in Goma writes about her experience on the ground in the “From Congo” blog. She writes from a Rwandan hotel, as she and other international citizens were told to leave as violence against the UN forces increased.

“Samantha” of the Virunga National Park’s blog writes that UN peacekeepers are fleeing, zooming past her home on motorbikes, as the country’s citizens speculate and panic.

The “Hope and Healing Congo” blog criticizes the UN peacekeeping force, calling its soldiers ineffective.

“Dr. Lucy” of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in Goma writes about concern for her staff’s safety amid the violence — she gives her staff money to hide in their homes in case looters make demands.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tonight.

See our recent coverage of the ongoing crisis in Congo.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user cyclopsr under a Creative Commons license.

Civilians have fled to the UN compound to protest inadequate protection against the rebels. UN peacekeepers fired on rebels in eastern Congo, near the border of Rwanda.

Rebel attacks have forced nearly 250,000 Congolese from their homes in the last six weeks.

Worldfocus correspondent Michael J. Kavanagh of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting speaks with Martin Savidge from the UN headquarters in Goma, where he was among the 100 people trapped inside the compound.

Read more on the background of the crisis in Michael’s on-the-ground report: Protesters pelt UN compound in Congo.

Michael J. Kavanagh with displaced Congolese in the Kibumba IDP camp last week. This IDP camp was raided and captured by Congolese rebels yesterday. Photo: Taylor Krauss.

Today, Worldfocus correspondent Michael J. Kavanagh reported from inside a UN compound in eastern Congo, which faced a storm of protesters. Michael is also a journalist for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Watch Michael’s interview with Martin Savidge: UN commander resigns as thousands flee in Congo.

Violence in eastern Congo reached new heights today when the force led by Tutsi rebel General Laurent Nkunda captured the Congolese army’s main base in the east.

The rebels went on to capture three other towns and are now only 20 km (or 12 miles) outside of Goma, where United Nations peacekeepers blocked their advance.

Protesters started taking out their frustrations on the UN because they feel the UN is not doing enough to protect them against the small (but powerful) rebel group of 5,000 to 7,000. Protesters have been stoning vehicles, pelting the compound with rocks and burning tires in the street.

There are probably about 100 people total inside the compound. At least one Congolese civilian was killed when U.N. peacekeepers were forced to open fire on a crowd storming their base.

There are more than 1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) here in the east right now. Today, another 20,000 were displaced and on their way to Goma — a camp up the road had been emptied out.

Over 250,000 people have been displaced by fighting in the last six weeks.

A peace process that began in January 2008 was supposed to force the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) to put down their weapons and go back to Rwanda, but that process has fallen apart.

This is kind of an endgame to the Congolese war that started in 1996, when Rwanda tried to track down genocidaires — or Rwandan Hutus who committed genocide — in eastern Congo. There are still remnants of that genocidal force here in Congo.

Congo is now accusing Rwanda of fighting a proxy war by supporting Nkunda’s rebels. In response, Rwanda says both Congo AND the UN peacekeeping force are protecting the FDLR.

Nkunda’s spokesperson said their forces are fighting primarily against the FDLR - a group of Rwandan Hutu rebels who have terrorized eastern Congo ever since they first came here in 1994. The leaders of the FDLR are accused of participating in the Rwandan genocide.

- Michael J. Kavanagh