A court in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced seven soldiers to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy and murder.

They were found to have fled when M23 rebels advanced, retreating through the town of Sake where they caused the death of two people by recklessly discharging their arms.

Although their lawyers plan to appeal, in DR Congo death sentences are often commuted to life imprisonment.

DR Congo has been beset by conflicts since its independence in the 1960s. Some have been driven by the fight to control its mineral wealth, others by ethnic rivalry.