The AFC/M23 rebel group has 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, according to rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka.

ALSO READ: M23 rebels capture Bukavu in latest advance

In an interview with The New Times on Tuesday, February 18, Kanyuka said the government soldiers had been "victims” of President Felix Tshisekedi&039;s rule.

ALSO READ: What does the capture of Goma mean for M23 rebels and their grievances?

"They are Congolese; they were used by Tshisekedi and his allies,” said Kanyuka, who was in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, which was also seized by the rebels on Saturday. "These are citizens. These are Congolese who are victims of Tshisekedi and his government. It was not a problem for us to integrate them in the army, the revolutionary army. There is no problem at all.”

VIDEO: Exclusive interview with AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka

Kanyuka said the captured government soldiers had gone through intense training before they were integrated into the movement that controls North Kivu Province and some parts of South Kivu Province. M23 military leader Gen Sultani Makenga was seen recently visiting the former government soldiers who were undergoing training at Rumangabo military barracks, in North Kivu. Makenga said the soldiers would be trained to join "a disciplined and non-tribalistic force."

He told them that they had "nothing to worry about" because they were in the hands of fellow countrymen.

ALSO READ: M23 calls for peace talks after taking control of Bukavu

Since January, the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) have suffered major losses in the war against AFC/M23 rebels. The FARDC coalition includes Burundian forces, troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), European mercenaries, FDLR – a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and local militia groups called Wazalendo.

ALSO READ: EAC, SADC leaders approve harmonised plan for FDLR neutralisation

Hundreds of European mercenaries surrendered after the rebels captured Goma on January 27, and were later given safe passage to go back home, through Rwanda.

But hundreds of SADC troops are still holed up in areas controlled by the rebels.

Kanyuka said countries in the SADC region, and East African Community (EAC), should "come and see what is happening on the ground” in eastern DR Congo in order to understand why the rebels have taken up arms to fight.

VIDEO: Wazalendo killing govt soldiers, bad leadership and everything else ailing DR Congo

The war between the Congolese army coalition, against M23 rebels, started in 2021. M23 is now part of a larger rebel coalition, Alliance fleuve Congo (AFC), created in December 2023, that is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict. Its leaders have vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo.

ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires

Kanyuka urged SADC and Burundian troops to withdraw from DR Congo and stop supporting Tshisekedi in "ethnic cleansing.”

"I am telling [SADC and EAC] to come and see for themselves what is happening on the ground, to see how Tshisekedi is killing this country, how Tshisekedi is spreading hate speech and how his government is corrupt and creating factions within the Congolese [people],” he said.

"People have been [cannibalised]. We are just calling them to come and see for themselves. Then, they can have a view... Why are people standing by, watching Tshisekedi kill us every day and saying that we should stop fighting?

"We are not fighting to attack the [Congolese] government; we’re fighting to defend ourselves, our families and our people who are being killed every day. So, they should support us.”