DRC Demands M23 Hand Over 7,000 New Recruits, Threatens to Alert U.S. and Qatar
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has dismissed recent claims by the M23 rebel group that it has integrated more than 7,000 newly trained fighters into its ranks. Kinshasa insists those individuals are prisoners of war and has threatened to escalate the matter to the United States and Qatar if they are not released.
M23 announced last Sunday that over 7,000 elite fighters had completed six months of training at the Rumangabo military camp in North Kivu. The rebels claimed many of the new recruits were former Congolese army (FARDC) soldiers who surrendered during the capture of Goma and Bukavu.
Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya strongly condemned the announcement, saying M23, as a party to peace negotiations, has no mandate to train new combatants.
Muyaya further argued that the individuals paraded as recruits were in fact Congolese soldiers and police officers captured in Goma and Bukavu, now held as prisoners of war. “They should have been handed over through the mechanisms established under the Doha peace talks,” he stated.
“A true Congolese patriot cannot align himself with people whose only aim is to kill and spread fear,” Muyaya added. “We are in daily contact with our citizens in occupied areas, and this is the constant threat they live under.”
Kinshasa has labeled the newly presented recruits as “hostages of war,” underscoring that M23’s move undermines international efforts toward peace.
Meanwhile, M23’s military leader, Gen. Sultani Makenga, has called on Congolese fighters to help overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi, whom he accuses of destroying the DRC.
