Wearing worn-out T-shirts and flip-flops, young men gathered outside a stadium in eastern DR Congo, ready to defend their homeland.
“I am ready to die for my country,” declared Juvenal Bahati Muhigirwa Ndagano as he stood in line to join the fight.
The M23 armed group, allegedly backed by Rwanda, recently seized Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, pushing further south toward Bukavu.
Bukavu, home to two million people, sits on the southern tip of Lake Kivu, marking the heart of South Kivu’s strategic region.
According to the United Nations, the ongoing violence has claimed at least 700 lives and left 2,800 wounded since Sunday.
For decades, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued by bloodshed, with conflict killing nearly six million people over thirty years.
In response, South Kivu authorities launched a three-day recruitment drive, calling on volunteers to join the fight against M23.
Militia groups known as “Wazalendo,” meaning patriots in Swahili, have fought alongside the Congolese army since 2021.
Inside the stadium, young recruits drilled on red earth, preparing for war under the watchful eyes of veteran fighters.
“Our principle is to always move forward—never backward,” said Marcellin Bahaya, a militia leader overseeing the new fighters.
“We will fight until the Rwandans return home, or if needed, we will reach them in Rwanda,” vowed fighter Amani Wangwabo.
Facing a heavily armed M23, the volunteers prepared with little more than basic weapons and ancestral beliefs in protective charms.
A teacher named Mushagasha Habamungu urged resistance, declaring, “We must not allow our sovereignty to be threatened by smaller nations.”
Authorities warned the fighters to remain disciplined and avoid harassing civilians, a recurring issue among local armed groups.
Interior Minister Murhula Albert Kahasha assured recruits they would receive emergency ideological training before heading into battle.
In less than four days, the volunteers will deploy to Kalehe territory, where the battle for eastern DRC’s future intensifies.