A military court in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced 27 Congolese soldiers to death for "cowardice," according to a court document.<\/p>\n
The soldiers were convicted of withdrawing from the front line during fighting against AFC\/M23 rebels.<\/p>\n
The trial of at least 112 soldiers from the 21st Simba Battalion began September 15 at the military court in Uvira, South Kivu province.<\/p>\n
The soldiers were accused of violating orders and fleeing battles against the rebels in eastern Congo in August.<\/p>\n
The court said 54 soldiers were sentenced Friday to five years in prison after being found guilty of violating instructions, while 10 others received six-month sentences.<\/p>\n
At least 21 soldiers, including five women, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.<\/p>\n
Read More: Ebola cases top 8,000 in DR Congo amid contact-tracing gaps<\/p>\n
The soldiers had been deployed to secure strategic areas overlooking Uvira, according to the prosecution.<\/p>\n
In May, a military court in Congo sentenced 58 Congolese soldiers to three years in prison for "violating instructions" when they withdrew from the front line during clashes with AFC\/M23 rebels.<\/p>\n
The latest trial came amid continued clashes between the AFC\/M23 rebel group and government forces in Uvira territory, according to local sources.<\/p>\n
The sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations.<\/p>\n
The M23 rebels have been at the center of the conflict in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n
The group controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, which it seized in early 2025.<\/p>\n
Congo, the UN and Western nations accuse neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group. Kigali denies the accusation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A military court in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced 27 Congolese soldiers to death for "cowardice," according to a court document. The soldiers were convicted of withdrawing from the front line during fighting against AFC\/M23 rebels. The trial of at least 112 soldiers from the 21st Simba Battalion began September 15 at the military […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/logos\/tribune-logo.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t