DR Congo soldiers on trial for selling arms to militia groups

Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the DRC

Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) sit in a truck bed in a base in Djugu, eastern DR Congo. PHOTO | JOHN WESSELS | AFP

Sixteen people, including nine soldiers, went on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday accused of selling weapons to a militia group in the country's restive northeast.

Army weapons are suspected of having fallen into the hands of a notorious group called CODECO, blamed for ethnic massacres in the northeastern province of Ituri.