THE International Criminal Court convicted two leaders of a militia in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Thursday for multiple war crimes committed against Muslim civilians during the country’s civil war in 2013 and 2014.

The former president of the CAR Football Federation, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom, a militia leader known as “Rambo,” were both sentenced to more than a decade in prison for their involvement in atrocities including murder, torture and attacking civilians.

Mr Ngaissona was sentenced to 12 years for 28 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr Yekatom was given a term of 15 years for 20 war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The two were senior leaders in a militia known as the anti-Balaka, which was formed in 2013 after the mainly Muslim Seleka militia stormed the capital Bangui in March of that year and ousted then-president Francois Bozize, a Christian.

The violence that followed left thousands of civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. Mosques, shops and homes were looted and destroyed.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to all charges against them in the trial, which opened in 2021.

The CAR is among the poorest nations in the world and has endured a succession of civil wars and authoritarian governments since gaining independence from France in 1960.