A UN-backed court in the Central African Republic has sentenced six rebel leaders to between 18 and 25 years in prison for war crimes committed during deadly intercommunal fighting in 2020.
More than 90 people were killed and dozens wounded over several weeks in March of that year after clashes broke out between two ethnic groups in the northern town of Ndele.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed and looted.
The conflict was sparked in late 2019 by the splinter of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the CAR (FPRC), one of the country's biggest militias.
The fighting was finally ended by the army's intervention.
The Special Criminal Court, a hybrid jurisdiction in the capital Bangui with CAR and foreign magistrates, found the six rebel leaders responsible for a "systematic and widespread attack launched against the population".
The court is in charge of investigating war crimes committed since 2003 in the country, which has endured a succession of civil wars and authoritarian governments since 1960.
Amnesty International welcomed Thursday's verdict as marking progress in the fight against impunity, adding that it shed light on the incident.
The trial only dealt with allegations against one of the two factions, with a separate trial that ended in December having sentenced members of the other ethnic group.
Despite the government striking a peace process with 14 rebel groups in 2019, several armed groups have continued to fight and maintain their authority over parts of the country.
The government has secured the main cities and violence has subsided in recent years.
But fighting occasionally erupts in remote regions between the rebels and the national army, which is backed by Russia's Wagner mercenaries and Rwandan troops.
