A rebel leader in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Chance Mihonya, an army deserter, set up a rebel group in 2017 in the Kahuzi Biega National Park. He was arrested last year.

A mobile military court set up near the city of Bukavu found him guilty of kidnapping and torturing dozens of people from several villages in the park.

He was also convicted of recruiting child soldiers and exploiting the country's mineral reserves.

Rights groups say more than a hundred different armed groups operate in eastern DR Congo, where the UN says more than a million people have been forced from their homes this year by violence.