The troops were accused of abandoning frontline positions while fighting a rebel coalition led by former president Joseph Kabila

A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death for cowardice, military revolt and refusing orders in the country’s conflict-hit east, local media have reported.

The Goma Garrison Military Court handed down the sentences late Friday after a 12-day trial in Walikale, North Kivu province, according to Congolese news outlet Actualite.cd and state news agency ACP. One sergeant was sentenced to ten years in prison, while four soldiers were acquitted.

The soldiers belonged to the 3415th Regiment of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and were arrested on October 20 in Ngora over alleged offenses committed in Ntoto, the 34th Military Region said in a statement cited by ACP.…