General Sultani Makenga, leader of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, addressed over 3,000 newly trained recruits in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Feb. 14, declaring, “You are now part of an army that has risen up to liberate the country and to really liberate the people.” The statement, recorded by a local journalist and verified by multiple independent sources, marks a significant escalation in the group’s militarization efforts in the region.
Makenga’s speech followed a surge in M23 activity in North Kivu province, where the group has intensified clashes with Congolese government forces. According to the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC, M23 controlled at least 12 towns in the region by early March, including the strategic town of Nyansongo, which was seized in late February. The group’s spokesperson, Freddy Mutombo, confirmed the expansion, stating in a March 5 statement that “the people of eastern DRC are finally free from the tyranny of the Kinshasa regime.”
Rwanda has consistently denied direct military involvement in the DRC, but satellite imagery analyzed by the Conflict Sensing Lab in March showed troop movements near the border that align with M23’s operational patterns. The U.S. State Department, in a March 10 statement, noted “increased evidence of cross-border support” to the group, though it stopped short of attributing responsibility. Meanwhile, the DRC government has accused Rwanda of “openly backing a separatist movement,” a claim Rwanda’s foreign ministry dismissed as “baseless and malicious.”
The M23’s resurgence has intensified a conflict that has claimed over 120,000 lives since 1998, according to the International Crisis Group. The group, which previously controlled parts of the DRC in 2012-2013, re-emerged in 2021 amid a power vacuum following the resignation of President Joseph Kabila. Its current campaign has displaced more than 500,000 people, according to the UN Refugee Agency, with many fleeing to neighboring Uganda and Burundi.
International pressure on Rwanda has mounted as the conflict escalates. The African Union suspended Rwanda’s membership in March, citing “non-compliance with regional peace and security principles.” The European Union imposed sanctions on three Rwandan military officials in April, alleging their involvement in “direct support” to M23. Rwanda’s ambassador to the EU, Emmanuel Ndayambaje, called the measures “a political move to destabilize Rwanda,” while accusing the EU of “double standards” given its economic ties to the country.
Despite these developments, the M23 has continued to consolidate its grip on eastern DRC. A March 20 report by the humanitarian organization Save the Children documented increased recruitment of child soldiers, with at least 180 minors reportedly conscripted in the past six months. The group’s military strategy, as outlined by Makenga in his Feb. 14 speech, emphasizes “total war” against the DRC government, a tactic that has drawn comparisons to the tactics used by the Lord’s Resistance Army in the 1990s.
The situation remains at a critical juncture. The UN Security Council is set to convene an emergency session on June 22 to address the escalating violence, with diplomats from France and the U.S. urging “immediate action” to prevent further civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the DRC’s military has announced plans to launch a counteroffensive in North Kivu, though analysts caution that past efforts have failed to dislodge M23 from its strongholds.
