A woman and a child take cover on the street in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<br/> <br />Others run for their lives.<br/> <br />On Monday the Congolese army attacked rebel positions in Goma.<br/> <br />The operation comes just hours after the Kinshasa rejected the rebels 24-hour ultimatum to open talks or face an onslaught.<br/> <br />The government dismissed the demand for truce talks, saying that the insurgent force pushing towards Goma was merely a tool of neighboring Rwanda.<br/> <br />Now some fear that the worst fighting in the area in four years will only intensify.<br/> <br />With civilians fleeing the city there are also fears of a new humanitarian crisis.<br/> <br />The country was hit by wars between 1994 and 2003 which killed about five million people.
