Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, at a briefing in Goma on Thursday, said they plan to take their offensive all the way to the capital, Kinshasa.
The group captured the key eastern Congolese city earlier this week.
They also said they were open to dialogue with the government as part of their plans to gain political power in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Our objective is Congo, we are fighting for Congo. We are not fighting for minerals, we are not fighting for anything [else],” said one of the political leaders of M23, Corneille Nangaa.
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There are unconfirmed reports that the M23 rebels are currently advancing towards Bukavu, the second-biggest city in the region, despite international calls for a ceasefire.
Nangaa said the rebel group was continuing the fight for three reasons.
“The first that there is not a state in DRC. The Tshisekedi regime has destroyed the army, destroyed the national police. He has destroyed administration and, above all, he has destroyed justice.''
The group’s announcement came hours after President Felix Tshisekedi called for a massive military mobilisation to resist the rebellion.
"I encourage him [Tshisekedi] to continue fighting, but we are going to fight him until we get to Kinshasa," said Nangaa.
He gave no indication as to how the rebels planned to advance on the capital which is more than 1,500 kilometres away.
The M23 called on residents of Goma to go about their daily life while the rebels work on facilitating much-needed humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the DRC said basic services were largely paralysed in the city.
Goma is a critical humanitarian hub for more than six million people displaced by the conflict.
United Nations experts say the rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda.
They are one of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east for the past decade.
Nangaa dismissed suggestions that it was a battle for resources as "propaganda from Kinshasa," insisting "our struggle is to restore this state, to give food to people".
He said the rebels' aim was "to start development, to make people live peacefully together, but also to create opportunity for the region and for the whole world."
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