Thirteen South Sudanese soldiers accused of raping five foreign aid workers and killing their local colleague appeared before a military court on Tuesday, a case seen as a test of the government's ability to try war crimes. Witnesses told Reuters at the time that armed men attacked the Terrain Hotel in the capital Juba for several hours. More on this: Soldiers who rape civilians should be shot, South Sudan's Kiir saysAlso read: South Sudan military arrests soldiers over gang-rape accusationThe military head of the UN peacekeeping mission was fired and the political head resigned over the incident. Describing the incident, the manager of the Terrain Hotel, Mike Woodward, told the court that "between 50 to 100" soldiers arrived in the hotel in the afternoon of July 11 and began looting an hour later. Peter Malual, the defendants' lawyer, dismissed the charges saying evidence provided by Woodward was not sufficient to prove the allegations.

Source: The Star May 30, 2017 12:45 UTC