Amisom mercenaries prosecuted for mutiny

[Shaakirullaah]

Burundi has opened a trial against 33 soldiers accused of mutiny and incitement to revolt while serving in Somalia.

The soldiers, of whom only 23 of the 33 accused were present during the session, are charged with refusing to obey orders in a protest over their salaries.

"The army defrauded us of 100 dollars on our monthly salary, 10 dollars on our daily food rations and 2,000 dollars on our deployment fee, which makes a total of 6,000 dollars per soldier," one of the accused officers told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The 4,500-strong foreign force, known as Amisom, is highly unpopular due to their indiscriminate firing of heavy artillery into markets and residential areas of Mogadishu.

Discontent has recently been brewing within their ranks, with soldiers often complaining they have spent months without pay and families of killed soldiers alleging that they have not been compensated yet.