KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s government spokesman says that hundreds who have staged a rebellion in the country’s east were recruited and trained in Rwanda.

Lambert Mende said late Saturday that Rwandan citizens were among the 200 to 300 fighters trained for the rebel group known as M23.

Last week, a human rights group accused the Rwandan military of providing support to renegade Bosco Ntaganda and his fighters who are staging a mutiny in Congo’s east.

The Congolese government has said it believes Ntaganda to be the force behind M23. However, the group has said that theirs is a separate rebellion and Ntaganda is not with them, a claim that is countered by some who defected and later spoke to Human Rights Watch investigators.

The Rwandan government has denied any involvement in the rebellion that has further destabilized a region long in turmoil.