KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 12 (UPI) -- Twelve senior officers in the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been suspended in connection with an incident of mass rape in 2012, officials say.
The United Nations had charged that soldiers in two of the army's brigades committed at least 126 rapes as the soldiers fled a rebel offensive in November, the BBC reported Friday.
The U.N. had threatened to stop working with the brigades unless legal action was taken.
Soldiers had told the BBC that superior officers told them to commit the rapes in the market town of Minova, which was briefly captured by M23 rebels.
The U.N. had identified a number of soldiers within the retreating forces alleged to have committed the assaults and demanded they be prosecuted.
The U.N. Security Council last month agreed to send 2,500 troops to eastern DR Congo to "neutralize and disarm" rebel groups.
The G8 group of nations on Thursday pledged $35 million to work towards stamping out rape as a weapon of war.
