GOMA, Congo >> The governor of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province has died from injuries sustained during fighting on the front line, a military spokesman said Friday, as M23 rebels closed in on the provincial capital.

M23 made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling Goma, which has around 2 million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

The circumstances around the death of Maj. Gen Peter Cirimwami were unclear but Cirimwami, who led army operations in the restive North Kivu, visited troops on the front line in Kasengezi, around 8 miles from Goma, on the day of his death.

The governor died at a hospital after sustaining injuries on the front line, officials said.

The Congolese army spokesperson, Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, confirmed Cirimwami’s death.

“He fell on the field of honor,” Ekenge said in a video posted by Congo’s presidency on X, adding that the governor succumbed to his injuries after being evacuated from the fighting.

On Thursday, panic spread in Goma as rebels took control of Sake, a town only 16 miles from the provincial capital and one of the last main routes into the city still under government control, according to the U.N. chief.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda, in a decadeslong conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

More than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Earlier this month, M23 captured the towns of Minova, Katale and Masisi, west of Goma.

M23 seized Goma in 2012 and controlled it for over a week.