The AFC/M23 recruits with complete transparency, rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, said in a post on X, on Friday, February 28, a day after "a terrorist attack" at a rebel rally in Bukavu, the capital of DR Congo's South Kivu Province, which the rebels captured on February 15.
Thursday's terror attack which the rebels attributed to the Kinshasa regime killed 13 people and injured more than 70 others, including women and children, according to the rebels.
ALSO READ: M23 vows retaliation after explosives kill people at massive rally in Bukavu
On Friday, Kanyuka posted a short video, on X, which appears to have been taken on the fateful day when a massive crowd gathered at the Place de l'Indépendance, a prominent public square in the heart of Bukavu. The meeting was presided over by rebel leader Corneille Nangaa and his deputies.
The video showed a big number of youths heed a call made by Gen Bernard Byamungu, a senior rebel military commander, to come forward, get registered, and "contribute" to the nation's liberation by "together, removing bad leadership."
When Byamungu asked the youths who are ready to come forward, there was a stampede as young men rushed in front.
L'AFC/M23 recrute en toute transparence : toutes ses recrues sont des adultes qui se sont portées volontaires.Meeting de L'AFC/M23 à Bukavu: Des nombreux jeunes s'inscrivent pour rej... https://t.co/POqVLajqAw via @YouTube-- Lawrence KANYUKA (@LawrenceKanyuka) February 28, 2025
The rebels have also been integrating into their ranks Congolese government troops that surrendered. More than 2,100 Congolese police officers and 890 soldiers, on February 22, joined the rebels in Bukavu.
ALSO READ: Over 2,100 police officers, 890 Congolese soldiers join M23 in Bukavu
This was barely five days after the rebel group integrated into its ranks hundreds of government soldiers who surrendered after the capture of Goma, the capital of DR Congo's North Kivu Province, in late January.
ALSO READ: M23 are no terrorists, the Congolese army is - say Bukavu residents
Moments after the Thursday's attack in Bukavu, Bertrand Bisimwa, one of the senior rebel leaders, pointed an accusing finger at neighbouring Burundi. Preliminary investigations indicated that the explosives used in the terrorist attack belong to the Burundian army, he said. More than 10,000 Burundian troops are part of Congolese government army coalition that is fighting the rebels.
ALSO READ: Drones, MONUSCO intelligence used in Minembwe, Uvira civilian massacres - warns M23
The Congolese army coalition also includes FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, European mercenaries, South Africa-led SADC forces, and a loose alliance of local militia groups called Wazalendo.
The AFC/M23 rebellion which has, in the past few months, seized swathes of territory and integrated into its ranks hundreds of government soldiers who surrendered is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all Congolese citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict in lawless DR Congo.
ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn't dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires
On February 8, an extra-ordinary joint EAC-SADC Heads of State and Government meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and taking positive action to allow meaningful dialogue so as to end the escalating insecurity in eastern DR Congo.
ALSO READ: Rwanda will never accept to relive dark past due to DR Congo-backed genocidaires
But as the security situation in South Kivu deteriorated amid reports of violence, looting, and abuses propagated by the Congolese army coalition, the rebels moved again and, first captured the strategic airport of Kavumu, before moving south to capture Bukavu, on February 15.
Earlier, residents were appealing to the rebels to quickly move in, and secure the city.
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Since January, the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) have suffered major losses in the war against AFC/M23 rebels.
Concerned by the international community's non-stop glossing over issues, Kigali last week stressed the need for the United Nations Security Council to focus on the root causes of eastern DR Congo's endless predicament as well as taking Rwanda's security concerns seriously so as to find a sustainable solution to the conflict.
Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that condemned the ongoing offensive and advance of AFC/M23 rebels in their country's east but made no mention of the fundamental issues including the fact that a genocidal ideology, and agenda, remains central to the crisis.
Kigali has, so often, explained that growing violent ethnic extremism in the region continues, particularly affecting Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese communities, a situation that led to the M23 rebellion years ago. President Paul Kagame has described the conflict in DR Congo as an ethnic war in which a section of Congolese citizens is denied its rights, and Rwanda is scapegoated.
