Africa-Press – Congo Kinshasa. In a message to the nation, President Félix Tshisekedi renewed on Thursday 3 November his appeal to young Congolese who have the vocation to “enlist massively” in the army to fight the rebellion of the “March 23 Movement” (M23).
“Since this morning (Saturday) we are more than 800 boys and girls who have responded to the appeal of the Head of State,” Colonel Ndakala Faustin, director in charge of recruitment within the Northern Province army, told AFP. Kivu.
“General mobilization”
The officer confirmed the information shared on social networks with images showing hundreds of young people gathered in a recruiting center, doing physical exercises.
“It is a general mobilization of young people from North Kivu”, he welcomed, indicating that in the northern part of the province “2,018 young people” have signed up for a training camp in Beni and “are waiting for their registration”. “Whoever is fit will go to the training center, if he wants to become soldiers he will serve after the attack (by M23), because I’m sure we will chase the enemy out” from here, she added.
High tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
High tension between Kinshasa and Kigali since the resurrection, at the end of 2021, of the M23, a former Tutsi rebellion that has taken up arms, accusing the DRC of not respecting the agreements on the demobilization of its fighters. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting this rebellion, which Rwanda disputes.
After several weeks of calm, the M23 has been on the offensive since 20 October and has gained ground as the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) attempt to block the road in Goma, a city of over one million inhabitants and the capital of the province of North Kivu. .
This renewed tension between the two countries of the Great Lakes worries the international community, which has called for an immediate end to the fighting and the withdrawal of the M23 from the occupied areas. On Saturday the foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda arrived for the Angolan presidency for a new mediation.
For more news and analysis on Congo Kinshasa, follow Africa-Press
