An Ethiopian court has jailed 66 soldiers over a rare protest in the capital in October demanding better pay, state media reported Saturday.

The Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported that the soldiers would be jailed from five to 14 years each.

In October, hundreds of elite soldiers staged a protest in Addis Ababa over "inadequate" salary and benefits, briefly blocking a road around the national palace and marching on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office.

Mobile and WiFi internet connections were cut for several hours as confusion and panic gripped the capital.

The Ethiopian army, one of the strongest and largest in Africa, is known for strict discipline, and protests by soldiers are practically unheard of.

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France on Tuesday handed over 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and three amphibious vehicles to the Central African Republic to shore up its beleaguered armed forces. French Defence Minister Florence Parly oversaw the handover at a ceremony at M'Polo military base in the capital Bangui. The military aid was announced in Paris in November, along with 24 million euros ($27.4 million) in civilian assistance. One of the world's poorest nations, the CAR has struggled to recover from a 2013 civil war th ... read more