In a message to the nation, President Félix Tshisekedi had on Thursday, November 3, renewed his call to young Congolese who have the vocation “to sign up en masse” in the army to fight the rebellion of the “Movement of March 23” (M23) .
“Since this morning (Saturday), we are more than 800 young boys and girls who responded to the appeal of the Head of State”, declared to AFP Colonel Ndakala Faustin, director in charge of recruitment in the army in the province of North Kivu.
“General Mobilization”
The officer confirmed information shared on social networks with pictures showing hundreds of young people gathered in a recruitment center doing physical exercises.
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“It is a general mobilization of the youth in North Kivu”, he welcomed, indicating that “2,018 youth” in the northern part of the province participated in a training camp in Beni and “are waiting for their registration”. “Those who are fit will go to the training center, if they want to become soldiers, they will serve after the aggression (at the M23) because I am sure we will kick the enemy out” from here, he added. .
High tensions between DRC and Rwanda
Tensions have been high between Kinshasa and Kigali since the resurgence, in late 2021, of M23, a former Tutsi rebellion WHO took up arms again, accusing the DRC of not honoring agreements to demobilize its combatants. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting this rebellion, which Rwanda denies.
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After several weeks of calm, M23 has been on the offensive since October 20, gaining ground as the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) try to block the road to Goma, a city of more than a million inhabitants and capital of North Kivu province.
This renewed tension between the two Great Lakes countries worries the international community, which has called for an immediate end to the fighting and the withdrawal of M23 from the occupied territories. On Saturday, the foreign ministers from the DRC and Rwanda arrived at the Angolan presidency for a news mediation.
(With AFP)
