12 Soldiers Executed in Sierra Leone Crackdown

Twelve soldiers were executed by hanging and firing squad Saturday in the military government’s first crackdown on renegade troops.

The soldiers, who ranged in rank from private to a 77-year-old warrant officer, were convicted in a military court of armed robbery, murder and other serious crimes.

The executions at the maximum security prison were the first ordered by the court to be carried out. Several other soldiers are awaiting trial, including one accused in an attack that killed an Irish priest, a Dutch doctor and his family.