Six people, including two army colonels, were condemned to death by a DR Congo military court for the killings of two Chinese mine workers.

Four other military personnel were sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Ituri Military Court. All but one of those receiving the death sentence was members of the military.

Lt Jules Ngongo, a representative for military operations in the gold-rich Ituri province.

The two colonels were accused of planning an attack on a convoy in March, with the aim of stealing four gold bars and $6,000 in cash being transported by the victims, who were returning from a gold mine.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, death penalties are regularly handed down but then systematically commuted to life imprisonment.
Attacks on Chinese-managed mines and Chinese workers are not uncommon in resource-rich eastern DRC, which has been ravaged by militia violence for decades.
Meanwhile millions of Congolese who heard about the news of the court ruling took to the streets to celebrate.